


Be My Teenage Dream Tonight

by gingerfic



Category: Glee
Genre: Canon-Compliant, Dalton Academy, M/M, Season 2, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-17 16:11:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2315567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerfic/pseuds/gingerfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt has his soulmate's name written on his wrist, but rather than making things clear, it's making them more confusing than ever.</p><p>A season 2 story that is canon-compliant but with a soulmate twist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working from this prompt:  
> "Why has no one written a soulmate fic where Kurt thinks the name Blaine is female?"
> 
> I wrote another fic ("Written on my Heart") from this prompt...but this one takes an entirely different angle and goes with the soulmate mark idea and ties into canon.

Kurt Hummel had known that he was gay since he was small. When he came out to his father at 16 his father smiled and said "I've known since you were three." Kurt wasn't sure if _he_ had known when he was three, but he was pretty sure he had known by middle school.

Which was why when his soulmate's name appeared on the inside of his wrist he felt sick. Everyone got their marks at different times, and Kurt's appeared not long after he had come out to his dad. He had been excited to get his mark, until he actually saw it. _Blaine Anderson._ Blaine? He'd never known anyone named Blaine. It sounded like a last name actually...which probably meant it was one of those trendy things...which he was certain meant that it was a girl.

A _girl?!_ Kurt knew he was gay. He was certain. He had really never doubted the fact since he'd figured it out for himself. However getting his mark led him to seriously question his identity. Unfortunately it happened around the same time that his dad started dating Finn's mom, and he saw how happy his dad seemed to be with Finn... The combination of factors had even led him to try dating Brittany for a while, but that had blown up in his face.

Nope, he was definitely, completely, gay.

* * * * *

The bullying had always been there to some degree. Kurt had accepted it. He had always been different. He was small and slender and dressed in ways that most students at McKinley would never understand. Then, of course, he'd joined Glee and become even more of a target. After he had come out to his family and friends though it had gotten worse still. He didn't tell anyone about this part, because he knew there was nothing they could do about it. Some of his friends knew--they saw him getting shoved into lockers from time to time. But none of them really knew the extent of it. They hadn't seen the bruises on his arms or back. They hadn't seen him curled on his bed at night crying himself to sleep.

Kurt Hummel was gay, and apparently that meant that high school was going to suck. But worse than that, Kurt Hummel's soulmate was a girl, which made him pretty sure that even after high school he was never going to be happy.

He liked girls. Most of his friends were girls. But he'd never loved them that way. He'd had a couple of crushes, and they were definitely always on boys. Sometimes he had dreams about kissing someone, and those dreams were always about boys. He didn't really know how the soulmate mark thing worked, but everyone seemed to believe it was an infallible system. So Kurt covered his mark the way he covered his bruises, and didn't let on that he even had it yet.

* * * * *

"I have in my hand the competition for sectionals next month," Mr. Schue announced. "First, the acapella choir from the all boys school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers."

Santana snickered. "OK, hold up, like a million awesome gay jokes just popped into my head." Kurt side-eyed her. He said nothing, but it did set the wheels of his mind spinning. _An all boys school? What would that be like? Would there be less bullying? Maybe there would be more..._ His attention returned to the present when he heard Mr. Schue announce that they were holding another boys versus girls mash-up competition. Kurt moved to follow the girls, as usual, and Mr. Schue made him go back over to the boys. Kurt sighed. Even in Glee club he couldn't really be himself.

It was the next day, when the boys were meeting together to try to figure out their mash-up (and all putting down Kurt's brilliant ideas yet again) that Puck made the suggestion. "Dude, why don't you make yourself useful and go visit the Garglers."

"The Warblers," Kurt corrected automatically.

"Whatever!" Puck smiled. "And you can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in!"

Kurt sighed and pursed his lips in anger to keep from bursting into tears. Even in Glee club, where he was more or less accepted, he still had to take verbal harassment from people like Puck who apparently had no idea how much it hurt.

"Fine," Kurt spat out, taking his swatch board and leaving the room.

* * * * *

It was the middle of the day, but Kurt didn't care. He was acing all his classes, it wouldn't hurt him to miss them today. He drove home first--his dad was at the shop and Carole had a day shift so he knew no one would be there. He looked through his closet and chose a white dress shirt, red tie, and dark jacket. He wasn't sure what the Dalton Academy uniform was, but it was a private school so he was sure they had one, and he wanted to blend in as well as he could. Then he grabbed his school bag and hurried out the door.

It was an hour and a half to Westerville from Lima, and it was a drizzly wet day which made for a dull drive. Kurt turned on the radio and sang along with a few songs, but his heart wasn't in it. He kept thinking about how his life was as depressing as this weather, and how even his own Glee club thought he was more use as a spy than as a soloist.

When Kurt arrived at Dalton Academy he knew it was still the middle of the school day. So, he was a little surprised to see everyone rushing down the stairs all headed in the same direction. He looked around for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on, because this was not at all how things looked at McKinley between classes! Finally he called over to a dark-haired boy who had just passed him on the stairs. 

"Excuse me."

The boy turned around and looked back up at me. His eyes were bright and kind and Kurt almost forgot what he was going to say at the mere sight of him. He swallowed.

"Um, can I ask you a question? I'm new here..."

The other boy held up his hand in greeting. "My name is Blaine," he said with a smile.

Kurt took his hand, as the shock bolted through his system. After a moment he managed to stammer out "Kurt," and smile slightly.

Kurt's mouth went onto autopilot and asked something about what was going on. Blaine said something about the Warblers doing a performance, and then he grabbed Kurt's hand and started down a hallway.

Kurt stared around himself in wonder as he ran down the hall with the other boy. He had no idea what the details would be, but he was pretty sure he had just met his soulmate, and he had a feeling that his life would never be the same again.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you go back and watch that staircase scene from 2x06, you can SEE Kurt hesitate and sort of gasp when Blaine says his name. Really, go watch it. It's like proof! :)


	2. Blaine

Blaine didn't have a soulmate mark yet. He had been trying to wait patiently but he wasn't a very patient person. Even without a mark to prove his orientation though, he had come out to his family and friends last year. 

There were rumors that if you found your soulmate before your mark appeared then it would make your mark come out. So Blaine looked for opportunities to get to know people. He had gone to a school dance with a guy who was his good friend, but that hadn't gone well. Now he was at an all boys school, but so far that wasn't paying off either. Blaine was an optimistic kind of guy though, so he kept smiling. Someday his prince would come. 

Blaine was the featured soloist for The Warblers. It wasn't something he had expected, but his do-it-all attitude had led him to audition and they had loved him. Blaine loved being loved, and he enjoyed singing and hanging out with the guys. It kept him busy while he waited for a soulmate. 

One morning over breakfast Wes had announced that a dreary rainy day such as today deserved a cheery "impromptu" performance (even impromptu Warbler performances were planned, after all, this was Dalton Academy, not some public school!) it was scheduled for mid afternoon--Blaine happened to be aware that the timing coincided perfectly with the calculus class Wes hated, but he didn't say anything. He would get to skip Ohio state history and he didn't mind that either. 

Of course when the "impromptu performance" time rolled around Blaine was running late. This happened to him a lot. He was always trying to pack in too many things in his day (or his life) and he just ended up having to run a lot. So he hurried down the wide curving staircase, watching his feet so he wouldn't trip in his hurry. He slipped his small frame between other boys, rounding the corner at the bottom, and stopping suddenly when he heard a voice. 

"Excuse me."

Blaine looked up, and saw someone he'd never seen before. He was certain he'd never seen him before because he definitely would have remembered that beautiful face. 

"Um, can I ask you a question? I'm new here..."

Blaine repressed a smile.  _ That's obvious,  _ he thought.  _ You're not even in uniform! _ But he didn't say it. The guy clearly felt awkward, and Blaine wanted to help. So instead he extended his hand. 

"My name's Blaine."

The boy inhaled sharply as he shook Blaine’s hand. “Kurt.”

Blaine smiled. Obviously this guy was nervous about something, but he didn’t seem dangerous, so Blaine invited him to the show. After all, an audience member was an audience member, right? The boy--Kurt, Blaine reminded himself--was clearly anxious about something, so Blaine grabbed his hand to try to help bring him back down to earth.

“I know a shortcut,” he explained, pulling him down a hallway. It wasn’t a shortcut at all--actually in terms of measurable distance it was slightly further--but it was empty and the lack of traffic made it a faster route if not a shorter one. 

“Next time don’t forget your jacket, new kid,” Blaine said with a wink as he stepped back to perform his song. This Kurt guy seemed nice enough, and Blaine was always game for making new friends. 

* * * * *

“Are all of you guys...gay?” Kurt asked nervously.

Oh, there it was. That probably explained a lot of his jumpiness. Blaine sensed it immediately when Kurt spoke. This was someone else who had been bullied, someone else who hadn’t been accepted or loved by enough people. Someone who needed friends. Blaine knew he couldn’t do much, especially for a spy from a rival show choir (and oh wasn’t that a funny twist!) but he gave him his phone number. 

“If you ever need a friend, or just someone who understands, I’m available, ok?”

Kurt had nodded. Blaine saw the firm set of his jaw and surmised that Kurt didn’t plan to ever call him. But there was still something comforting about knowing that someone else out there understood. 

* * * * *

As he was getting ready for school the next morning Blaine had an idea. He’d gotten Kurt’s number, and even though Kurt hadn’t called or texted him yet he decided he could send a message to Kurt.

_ “Courage” _

He slid his hands along his hair, checking for flyaways, straightened his tie, and headed down to his first class. 


	3. Kurt - Courage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter title includes the name of whose point of view the chapter is told from. 
> 
> This chapter occurs during 2x6 “Never Been Kissed”

“Are you guys all...gay?” Kurt had to ask. He hadn’t really meant to turn the conversation to personal topics like that. After all, this was some sort of Warbler tribunal for spying and he probably should avoid saying anything beyond what was absolutely necessary. Now that he was here though, and now that he’d heard Blaine’s full name and verified that yes, this gorgeous boy’s name matched the one on his wrist, he just had to verify that he was gay too. After all, the way Kurt’s luck seemed to go, his soulmate might well be straight, and then where would that leave him?

“I am,” Blaine confirmed. Then he said a whole bunch of things about being strong and brave and something else, but all Kurt could remember afterward were those two words in his head over and over and over.

I am.

I am.

_I am._

* * * * *

They had exchanged numbers, and Kurt desperately wanted to call Blaine or send him a text or something, but he had no idea what to say, so he didn’t. It wasn’t exactly simple to say “hey, I know we only met yesterday, but I forgot to mention that I’m your soulmate, so how about we go out?”

No.

No way would Kurt would spring a thing like that on Blaine right after meeting him. He wouldn’t spring it on him ever, he realized. Blaine hadn’t said anything, so obviously he didn’t have Kurt’s name in his skin yet. It didn’t seem right to push him into getting together under those circumstances. No, Kurt had waited this long, he could wait a little longer. Surely Blaine would get his mark soon (especially now that they had met and touched), and Kurt could wait. He had things to deal with that were more urgent anyway, like Karofsky. Blaine would still be there in a few days or weeks or months.

Still, he couldn’t stop the excited shiver that ran down his spine when he heard his phone beep that morning and glanced down to see one word:

_“Courage”_

* * * * *

Kurt’s body hit the lockers so hard that he had to gasp to catch his breath. Something inside him snapped in that moment, some combination of Blaine’s encouragement and his own frustration, and he gulped a breath and ran after the bully.

“Hey!” he called as he followed the larger boy. He pushed open the door to the locker room where he had seen Karofsky disappear. “I’m talking to you.”

“Girls’ locker room’s next door,” Karofsky spat.

“What is your problem?” Kurt nearly screamed. “What are you so scared of?”

Karofsky glared at him. Kurt knew where his brain was going--it was the same place straight guys’ minds always went. Even Finn had been awkward about it for a while, and Kurt had carefully avoided the locker room when anyone else was changing because of it. Fear and discomfort could motivate a lot of strange things in people--and horrible things too. So Kurt attempted to calm the situation.

“You’re not my type,” he explained. _I know exactly who my type is and he’s nothing like you. He’s beautiful with raven hair and golden eyes and he sings like a dream and…_

Kurt was shaken out of his reverie by a locker door slamming and Karofsky’s fist in his face. He wanted to run. More than almost anything Kurt wanted to get out of this locker room and run as far and as fast as he could. But he didn’t, because the only thing Kurt wanted more than an escape was an end to all of this. So he stood his ground.

“Hit me because it’s not going to change who I am. You can’t punch the gay out of me any more than I could punch the ignoramus out of you.”

And then time slowed down as Kurt went into shock. He felt like he was outside of his own body, watching what was happening from across the room as Karofsky grabbed his face and kissed him before running away.

Fear, yes, he had been acting out of fear, but it wasn’t the fear Kurt had thought it was. It was a much much bigger one. He sat down on the hard narrow bench, his head reeling and heart pounding. He forced himself to take deep breaths for a few minutes until he could feel his body again and started to be able to organize his thoughts.

No one else had seen what had happened. It would be his word against Karofsky’s if he went to the principal, and he knew that was pretty useless. His dad would believe him of course, but his dad had had a heart attack two months ago and no way was Kurt going to tell him anything stressful right now. But Blaine...Blaine had to understand. With shaking fingers Kurt pulled his phone from his pocket and started to type out a text.

* * * * *

Somehow Kurt had known that Blaine would come, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t standing there in a mild degree of shock when Blaine actually pulled into the McKinley parking lot. Kurt wasn’t used to having people go out of their way to be nice to him--actually the opposite was usually more true--so it always felt a little surprising when they did.

He wanted to embrace Blaine as he approached, but he forced himself to stay casual.

“Thanks again for coming,” he said instead.

“Don’t worry about it.” Blaine was all business. “Just let me do the talking.”

Kurt was only too glad to let Blaine be the one to talk to Karofsky, until eighteen seconds later when Karofsky had Blaine pushed up against a fence and was in his face and Kurt’s protective side kicked in.

_Well that was unexpected._

_Sort of._

Kurt didn’t routinely put himself in danger’s way for other people unless he was really close to them, and he’d only known Blaine a few days… then again, this boy was his soulmate and Kurt had felt connected and attached to him immediately. Was it really as simple as that?

Karofsky had run off, and Kurt collapsed on the steps, overwhelmed by the encounter, by his thoughts, and most of all by the whole bizarre situation. Being kissed by his bully was bad enough, but to have it happen on the day after he met his soulmate? That was Shakespeare-level irony right there.

“What’s going on?” Blaine asked with obviously genuine concern. Kurt took a deep breath but couldn’t bring himself to say it. Blaine came over and sat next to him. “Why are you so upset?”

_Because he took what I wanted to give to you ._

“Because until yesterday I had never been kissed. Or at least, one that counted.”

Blaine paused a moment. _Yeah ,_ Kurt thought, _it’s awkward. You don’t want to hear about this. You also don’t know the half of why it upsets me so much, and I can’t tell you because you hardly know me and right now is definitely not the moment to announce to you that your name is written on my wrist._ Kurt tugged at his jacket sleeves automatically, making sure his wrists were well-covered, then shivered involuntarily as he waited for Blaine to make an excuse and leave.

But Blaine didn’t leave. Instead he said, “C’mon, I’ll buy you lunch.”

* * * * *

Lunch was basically exactly everything that Kurt had not imagined for today. It was fun, it was lighthearted, and by the end of it Kurt felt like he had a real friend rather than just a nice guy who happened to be sympathetic to being bullied. They talked about movies and music, celebrity crushes and favorite snack foods. None of it was very deep, but none of it was about Karofsky either, and for the first time in weeks Kurt almost forgot about him for a while.

They were heading toward Blaine’s car when Blaine grabbed Kurt’s elbow and stopped him mid-stride.

“There’s something I should have said before, but I wasn’t sure how,” Blaine said softly. “But you have to know, he doesn’t count.”

“What?” Kurt asked in confusion.

“Him, you know…” Blaine looked like he had something bitter in his mouth “kissing you. It doesn’t count,” he repeated firmly. “He didn’t ask before he touched you, and you didn’t want it. That’s assault, whether he did it with his face or his fist. And it does not count for your first kiss.”

Kurt’s ears burned and he feared that his face was probably red too. Yes, he had desperately needed to hear that--and since he wasn’t telling anyone else about what had happened then Blaine was the only person who could say it--but he still felt awkward talking to Blaine about kissing of all things. Telling him about the incident had been hard enough, but now to have Blaine assuring him that he still counted as a kiss virgin… Kurt felt a little dizzy all of a sudden.

He took a deep breath. “Thanks,” he muttered as he turned and continued toward the car, trying to think of something--anything--to change the subject. As Blaine reached to unlock the door for him, Kurt noticed something laying on the back seat of the car.

“Are those, um,” he squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Are those your school pictures?” he asked as he climbed into the car.

“Oh, those?” Blaine asked, with raised eyebrows as he put the key in the ignition. “Yeah, they’re not great. Everyone looks a little dopey in prep school pictures.” He chuckled and put the car into gear. “My mom always orders the mega pack with like sixty photos in it, and I never know what to do with half of them so they ended up there.” He jerked his head toward the back seat and shrugged.

“Um, can I… I mean, would it be weird…” Kurt tried to figure out how to speak the idea that was in his head. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I consider you one of my friends, and I like having pictures of my friends for my locker. Do you think, maybe, would you mind if I had one?”

Blaine looked slightly surprised. “Sure! Like I said, I’ve got lots.” He smiled that heart-melting grin again. “I don’t have any scissors in the car, but you can just grab a whole sheet out of there. I don’t need them for anything else.”

“Thanks.” Kurt forced himself to be still, although he suspected that his heart was about to burst out of his ribcage. If Blaine could hear it (and how could he not?) he was being very polite and not saying anything. Kurt had no idea what he was doing when it came to soulmates, or boyfriends, or even boys. But getting a picture of Blaine for his locker sounded like a really good idea right now.

And suddenly this day didn’t seem so bad after all.

* * * * *

Kurt stood longer than usual at his locker, staring at the picture he had just put there, and the word ‘courage’ he had put beneath it. Blaine had probably expected he would take one of the little photos--and that had been Kurt’s original plan--but then this nice big one had been right on top of the stack and he couldn’t help himself.

Kurt smiled. Maybe he was the only one in the world who knew why he wanted this photo--in this size and framed so formally--inside his locker where he could see it every day. But someday other people would know too. And for now, it made Kurt happy to see Blaine’s face, even when he--

Kurt’s body crashed into the lockers and he slid to the floor again.

Some things never seemed to change.

But some things… Some things did.


	4. Kurt - Love Is Silly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on in the chapters will sometimes be slightly non-sequential. They are still always tied to canon, and the related episode(s) will be mentioned in the notes.  
> I trust that as Klainers you have season 2 memorized and that this jumping around won't be a problem! :)
> 
> This chapter occurs during 2x12 “Silly Love Songs.”

“I think there’s something really great about a day when you’re encouraged to lay it all on the line and say to somebody I’m in love with you,” Blaine explained breathily as they waited for coffee at _The Lima Bean_. “I mean, I know some people think that love is overrated, or silly, because hey we all get soulmate marks so why bother falling in love, just wait for your soulmate, right?”

Kurt nodded in a way that he hoped was casual and non-committal.

“But I can’t help it,” Blaine went on. “It’s just so romantic, the idea of falling in love before you have your marks--or before one of you does--but taking that risk to be together, and then having your marks come later to confirm it.”

Kurt bit his lip. Hard. He didn’t have a mark to wait for, he knew what his said. What was Blaine getting at?

“Anyway, there’s this guy that I sort of...like. And I’ve only known him for a little while but I want to tell him that I think my feelings are starting to change into something...deeper.” Blaine looked at his toes and off to the side and fluttered his eyes bashfully for an awkwardly long time before he managed to look back at Kurt.”Do you think it’s too much to sing to somebody on Valentine’s Day?”

Kurt felt a shock run through his nerves all the way to his toes. _He knows. He has his mark too_ . Then he smiled to himself. Trust Blaine to want to do things the romantic way. Another boy might have just said “hey, look, I have your name on my wrist,” but not Blaine. _Not me either_ , Kurt reminded himself. After all, he’d learned Blaine’s name months ago, after having had it on his own wrist for more than a year. But he had been very careful to never let Blaine see it. (He was actually thankful for the long-sleeved Dalton uniform, although he knew it was going to get harder to keep it hidden as the weather got warmer. It would be great if Blaine knew now and he could stop hiding it.)

“Not at all,” Kurt said warmly, trying not to look faint. Good lord his soulmate was going to serenade him to ask him on their first date. Kurt pinched himself to check if he was dreaming it all up. He wasn’t.

* * * * *

“Why The Gap?” Kurt asked, thinking it was an odd choice for a romantic venue.

“…the guy I like is a junior manager,” Blaine explained eagerly.

For the second time in as many days Kurt’s nerves were on fire, but this time it wasn’t in a good way.

Well then, obviously Blaine did not have his mark if he was going to sing to some salesman at the mall. Kurt did his best to hide his disappointment as all the Warblers began the plans for the flash mob serenade. _It’s not even a very romantic song_ , Kurt consoled himself as they started figuring out the parts. Still, every time Blaine started singing about wanting to get the guy alone, Kurt would zone out thinking about being with Blaine, alone, somewhere only they knew.

He just had to be patient. Blaine would figure this out eventually, right?

Unless he fell in love with someone else first.

Kurt gulped. What if Blaine really fell in love with someone else?!

* * * * *

Fortunately The Gap Attack was a bust. The guy wasn’t interested, and Kurt was relieved. On the other hand, Blaine seemed genuinely disappointed and Kurt couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him, and for the assistant manager who had been the object of the serenade who had ended up getting fired.

It wasn’t until the next day though that Kurt had a realization. Maybe Blaine did have his mark—maybe Kurt’s name was on his wrist—but he thought that Kurt didn’t know yet. Kurt had always tried to be a good friend to Blaine, but as part of his decision to not reveal his mark to Blaine, he had also tried to avoid acting like anything more than a friend. Maybe Blaine was looking for a distraction, or trying to make Kurt jealous? Regardless, it seemed obvious that he was waiting for Kurt to make the first move.

They were standing side by side in The Lima Bean waiting for their coffees when Blaine said something about being a fool, and asked Kurt why he’d let him do it. Kurt knew this was his chance, and even though he was more nervous about this than he had been for his sectionals audition, he took a deep breath and said it anyway.

“Blaine, you and I… We hang out all the time, we sing flirty duets together, you know my coffee order… Was I supposed to think that was nothing?”

Blaine furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

Oh dear, this hinting thing wasn’t working. Kurt was going to have to be direct. He cleared his throat. “I thought that the guy you wanted to ask out on Valentine’s Day…was me.” He looked straight into Blaine’s eyes, making it clear that he would have given a very different response from that fluffy-haired Gap boy.

“Wow…I really am clueless,” Blaine trailed off for a moment. Kurt could tell he was collecting his thoughts, so he just waited.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Blaine admitted. “I’ve never been anyone’s boyfriend…”

“Me neither,” Kurt murmured.

“But dating is so awkward because some people will date around, but then when they meet their soulmate they’ll dump whoever else they were with. And other people won’t pair off at all unless it’s their soulmate. And some people don’t even believe that soulmates matter at all…” he was getting out of breath as he rambled on.

“Do you?” Kurt asked softly.

“Do I what?”

“Believe that soulmates matter?”

“Oh.” Blaine’s ears turned a little red, but he smiled. “Yeah.” He nudged Kurt’s elbow with his own as they reached for their coffees. “It’s just, it’s romantic, you know? The idea that there’s that one perfect person out there for each of us?”

“Yes it is.” Kurt suspected that his own ears were red now, but he hoped he could pass it off as the result of the hot coffee. “So how do you feel about dating then?”

“Well, I used to think it was a great idea,” Blaine’s self-deprecation was blatant. “Now I think maybe I was getting ahead of myself.” He sighed and took a long slow sip from his cup before continuing.  “It just gets lonely sometimes, you know?” Kurt nodded. Oh yes, he knew. “So it would be nice to be with someone,” Blaine finished.

“The other day you said you thought it was romantic to take a chance with someone, even if you didn’t have marks,” Kurt reminded him. He was too close now to let Blaine drop this subject.

Fortunately, this time Blaine seemed to understand. “I really care about you, Kurt. You’re my best friend.”

“You’re mine too,” Kurt interjected.

Blaine smiled. “Our friendship is just so... Well, I don’t want to screw it up by complicating things.”

Kurt’s smile was a little forced, but he put it on anyway. Blaine obviously wasn’t ready for this yet. Mark or no mark, he had just been burned pretty badly and he obviously was going to need some time before he was ready to try again. Kurt took a deep breath and plastered on a grin. “Well, I have an idea of what we can do for Valentine’s Day.”


	5. Blaine - Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x9 “Special Education” and 2x10 “A Very Glee Christmas”

Blaine liked Kurt. Like, a lot. But Kurt always seemed so reserved and careful, and it made Blaine hesitate. They had talked often enough and about enough things that Blaine was sure that Kurt was the kind of guy who didn’t want to date around too much. He wanted to find his soulmate and live happily ever after, or whatever the storybooks said. It was sweet, really. Blaine actually didn’t mind at all, but it did mean that he avoided flirting or anything else that wasn’t strictly platonic.

Well, ok, mostly platonic.

Blaine couldn’t help it. He liked Kurt! And flirting was harmless. Wasn’t it?

Then Kurt transferred to Dalton and suddenly the stakes were higher. Blaine saw him every day, and spent hours at a time in his company for Warbler practice and study sessions. Now that Kurt felt safe he had loosened up a lot, and it turned out that he was hilarious. Some of the other Warblers took themselves too seriously and didn’t seem to appreciate Kurt’s joke about working for a stray cat rescue at the bottom of a coal mine, but Blaine had to bite his lip hard to keep from bursting out laughing at the time. (It was a good thing he had, because when Blaine laughed too hard he sometimes snorted, and that was decidedly undapper and not something he wanted to let Kurt see just yet.)

Blaine was delighted to be able to tell Kurt that he could audition for a solo for sectionals, and then his heart broke a little when Kurt chose the song he did for that audition… Blaine knew the Warblers, and he knew that they wouldn’t get excited about a song from  _ Evita .  _ They expected Top 40 pop songs, and Kurt just didn’t fit into their box. Blaine tried to comfort him, to suggest that in Warblerville conformity would earn him more points than standing out, but he watched the light dim in Kurt’s eyes when he said it, and it killed Blaine a little bit inside too. He resolved that from this point on he was going to be Kurt’s friend, rather than his mentor. He would support Kurt as he was, rather than pushing him to change in any way.

* * * * *

It was the day of the Sectionals competition that things changed. All the Warblers were in the dressing room, helping each other dust lint off their blazers and adjust their ties in preparation for their performance. Somehow Kurt had become the default hair guy, going around with a comb and a bottle of hairspray and helping Warbler after Warbler get his ‘do just so. Blaine watched him from across the room (where he had apparently become the default tie guy). 

“Yes, the knot is straight, Jeff. We don’t need to redo it again,” Blaine assured his tall blond friend before glancing back to where Kurt was helping Trent create a perfect swoosh in his hair. The tip of Kurt’s tongue had slipped out as he concentrated, and damn if that wasn’t sexy. But as he reached over to grab the comb his sleeve pulled up a bit and Blaine saw the dark squiggles on his wrist: Kurt had a soulmate mark.

Blaine couldn’t read it of course--not from across the room--but he knew a soulmate mark when he saw one. Both of his parents, his brother, and several of his other friends had them. Kurt glanced over at him just then, and blue eyes met hazel across the room, followed by a quick smile.

_ This changes nothing, _ Blaine told himself. 

But it was a lie. It changed everything.

The air felt thick all of a sudden, and Blaine loosened the tie he had just finished fixing. The actual room felt different. He cleared his throat, stared at the ceiling, and wondered if Kurt sensed a shift between them too.  _ Probably not, _ he realized.  _ He has known for a while, obviously. It’s just me that has been misinterpreting things all along. I’m so stupid! _

* * * * *

A half hour later, when the Warblers were getting ready to go on stage, Kurt was nowhere to be found.

“I think he went to get a water bottle at the concession stand,” Nick suggested. 

“I’ll get him,” Blaine said automatically, and he was halfway down the hall before his brain caught up with his body. He almost stopped mid-stride, but then he reminded himself that they had five minutes to be on stage and he needed to get Kurt. He was about to round the corner when he heard Kurt’s voice and stopped. 

“How’s Finn? I feel bad, I haven’t spoken to him since the wedding.” 

A female voice answered. “I haven’t really talked to him much either. I found out that he and Santana were romantically involved and he lied to me about it.”

Kurt’s voice again--Blaine didn’t want to admit how much he loved Kurt’s voice, especially now that he knew he wasn’t available. “Wait, you didn’t know about that?”

“No!” her voice rose an octave and got shrill. “I had no idea! That’s why I broke up with him!”

“Broke up with him?”

“It kills me,” her voice had gotten very soft again and Blaine found himself straining to hear, but unable to interrupt just yet. “I love him and he did this to me…” She sniffed indelicately before adding, “he’s my soulmate, Kurt.”

“Oh Rachel, I didn’t know…”

“I got my mark more than a year ago, but I was saving it, you know? Waiting for the right time to tell him… Now I don’t know if I can bare to tell him at all.” Blaine heard a muffled sob. As much as he hated to interrupt, he needed Kurt to come to the stage now. He came around the corner to see a small brunette girl re-clasping a bracelet on her wrist as Kurt gave her a hug and murmured, “I won’t tell him.”

“Sorry to pull you away from your friend, Kurt, but they’re calling places,” Blaine said.

Kurt nodded and stepped away from Rachel. “I’ll call you later tonight, ok?”

She nodded. “Ok.”

* * * * * 

The last month before Christmas at Dalton was slow. Everyone was busy cramming for finals and many of the boys were making plans to travel over the holidays as well. There was hardly time to think, yet thinking was all Blaine could do.

He had been so confident this fall, but now he suddenly felt unsure about everything with Kurt. Kurt seemed the same as ever--friendly and kind and occasionally flirty--but now Blaine was constantly trying to figure out what it all meant. Kurt had a soulmate, and he was definitely the kind of guy who would be waiting for him, so he wouldn’t be looking for anything serious with anyone else right now. Right?

It was ironic, really, that just as Blaine started having feelings for Kurt he should find out that Kurt wasn’t available. Maybe it was just as well, because if he  had started dating Kurt, and then Kurt met his soulmate, Blaine would have been left in the dust, undoubtedly heartbroken. Kurt was such a generous and gentle person that Blaine knew that whoever was his boyfriend--his soulmate--would undoubtedly be a lucky guy. It was frustrating and disappointing for Blaine to accept that he wasn’t going to get a chance to experience being on the receiving end of Kurt Hummel’s affections, but maybe it was for the best. Never having it might be hard, but having it and then having to give it up would undoubtedly be so much harder. Wouldn’t it? So Blaine dealt with it as best as he could, and tried to not be awkward around Kurt, but mostly he failed miserably.

* * * * * 

It was the last day before Christmas break, when most of the boys had already finished their finals and left, and only the most studious were still hanging around, that Blaine finally decided to try something out. He was tired of tiptoeing around Kurt and feeling awkward all the time and trying to second-guess every action for appropriateness. Kurt was the one with a soulmate mark, not him, so Blaine was going to follow his lead. If Kurt wanted to be just friends, then Blaine would be friends. But if Kurt flirted, well, Blaine knew how to do that too. 

He legitimately did need to rehearse. It wasn’t just an excuse. The girl that he was supposed to sing with lived two houses down from his parent’s though, so it wasn’t like it would have been difficult to set up a rehearsal with her. But he wanted to sing a duet with Kurt. He’d never gotten to and at this rate he figured he might not get to, so he went for it. 

Blaine grinned as he set down the boombox and asked Kurt to please help him rehearse  _ Baby It’s Cold Outside _ . Kurt’s eyes flickered with recognition and he looked Blaine up and down before agreeing. Obviously he knew the song (as Blaine had hoped he would), and most likely he knew how flirty it could be. Blaine motioned for Kurt to begin, and waited to see what he would do with it.

If Kurt had just stood in place to sing the song, Blaine would have followed suit without comment. But Kurt didn’t. Kurt teased, and strutted, and flirted as though his life depended on it. Blaine had made up his mind before he even came into the room, so every thing that Kurt did, Blaine did more. He followed his friend around the room, spinning, winking, and pushing further into Kurt’s personal space than he had ever dared before. Kurt just kept on smiling and prancing away from every advance.

Why was this boy so confusing? Blaine pushed the question back down as fast as it came up. Friends could flirt with each other. It didn’t mean that Kurt was a tease, it just meant that he was fun. Cooper flirted with absolutely everyone, Blaine reminded himself, even though he had his mark. Well, ok, maybe Cooper wasn’t the best example of how most people behaved… but still…

Kurt circled around the couch, leaning onto the back of it so that Blaine could get close but couldn’t quite reach him. Blaine dropped a knee onto the cushion and got as close as he dared, looking Kurt right in the eye and silently daring him to take it one step further. He wouldn’t, Blaine was sure. And he didn’t. He spun away and moved on, and as they finished the song Blaine was left sitting there, feeling awkward again. He threw a quick smile at Kurt before hurriedly getting up to leave.

So much for that plan. Blaine most definitely could not let Kurt take the lead in anything. Kurt was apparently an outrageous flirt in spite of having a soulmate out there somewhere, and Blaine and his tender heart couldn’t handle it. So he resolved to stick with being very, very platonic best friends. Over time Blaine was bound to find someone else, and then he would date  _ him ,  _ and then he would get over Kurt. Yes. That was a good plan.


	6. Blaine - Confusing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x14 “Blame it on the Alcohol”
> 
> As usual, some artistic license is taken with the canon dialogue.

Blaine was doing pretty well with this whole thing of being super duper platonic with Kurt. When Kurt had dropped flirty ‘we could date’ hints around Valentine's Day Blaine had staunchly held his ground. He had even done it without letting on that he knew that Kurt had his mark. “We’re such good friends, I don’t want to screw it up,” he’d said instead. That was a good reason, right? Of course it was. 

But when Kurt invited him to a party with a bunch of the glee kids from his old high school Blaine couldn’t make himself say no. Yes, he knew that people did dumb stuff when they got drunk, but he also knew that there would be a whole group of people there who were all friends, and Kurt said that only a few of them were paired off so it wasn’t like they would be the awkward leftover friends on the side. 

Actually being at the party was something else though. Kurt was looking  _ so cute _ in that red shirt and those tight, tight pants (were those laces up the side? Oh lord! Blaine was suddenly very, very glad that his own pants weren’t too tight tonight). Blaine suddenly realized that this could turn into a very awkward night for him if he wasn’t careful. After brief consideration, he decided to get drunk.

* * * * *

It was fun to meet Kurt’s brother--younger brother, Kurt reminded him.

“You’re so tall,” Blaine murmured as he hung onto Finn’s shoulder and bent his neck sideways, trying to see all the way up to where Finn’s face was. 

“Are you having fun, Blaine?” Kurt asked from Finn’s other side. He did not look drunk at all. He also didn’t look any less adorable. As he stepped closer Blaine tried to preemptively throw an arm around Kurt’s shoulder in an approved ‘bro’ style, but instead he tripped on the edge of the stage and had to hold on to Kurt for dear life to avoid falling on his face. 

“It’s the best party ever!” He announced, trying to cover his awkwardness with enthusiasm. 

* * * * *

It was a pretty good party, actually. There were games and giggles and a few impromptu musical numbers, but Blaine hadn’t expected anything else from a bunch of drunk glee kids. Spin the bottle was pretty hilarious, especially when the cute blond guy started making out with one of the blonde girls and the Latina chick started yelling at everyone. Blaine wasn’t really that drunk, but he honestly wasn’t sure whether she was yelling more at the guy or the girl: she seemed angry at both of them (and he was pretty sure that an hour ago she’d been doing body shots with both of them too). 

Blaine was distracted with his people-watching and didn’t notice at first when Rachel spun the bottle and it pointed to him. It was Kurt’s voice near his ear (“this is outstanding!”) that brought his attention back around. Rachel was already crawling towards him.

“Blaine Warbler, I’m gonna rock your world.”

Blaine had never kissed a girl before, but he had never kissed a boy before either, and once his eyes were closed he decided that maybe it didn’t really matter. He was vaguely aware that the other people in the circle were whooping and hollering but he tuned them out. Rachel’s lips were soft and plump and when they pressed against his they felt nice. He liked it. And when she started to pull back a little he brought his hand up to her face and pressed in for just a few more seconds. 

As they pulled apart she whispered “your face tastes awesome.”

Blaine was too shell-shocked to say anything, so he just sat there with a sort of stupid expression on his face. Of course he wasn’t about to admit to anyone here that that had been his first kiss ever. He also wasn’t going to admit to anyone here that his ears felt hot and his toes were tingling and he was feeling slightly short of breath.

When Rachel pulled him up onto the stage for a song, he didn’t have time to think, he just went with it. Singing was fun. Rachel was fun. Dancing was fun. That was the reason he had come to the party, right? To have fun!

* * * * *

Blaine woke up to a pounding headache and an unfamiliar voice.

“...you were gonna teach me all about brunch!”

“I’ll be down in a sec.” Oh, that was Kurt’s voice.

Wait, what?

Blaine rolled over, squinting as the too-bright light assaulted his eyes, and attempted coherent speech. “Where am I?”

Apparently that was exactly the wrong thing to say, because the man (Oh that must be Kurt’s dad. And ugh, this was definitely not the way Blaine had expected to meet him…) looked very upset as he rushed back out of the room.

“Um, good morning,” Kurt said softly. “This is my room. I brought you home last night because you were pretty drunk and I knew you shouldn’t be driving.”

Kurt was wearing a bathrobe and rubbing something white into his face. He was completely not put together and looked far too sexy for this time of morning. Blaine felt like he might need to throw up.

“Uh,” he said, “bathroom?” 

Kurt pointed toward the door. “It’s right across the hall.”

“Thanks.”

* * * * *

Blaine peed for about a thousand minutes and felt somewhat better for it. After washing his hands he splashed cold water on his face and glared at his hair in the mirror but it didn’t help. He needed a shower and some fresh clothes, and he really needed to get out of Kurt’s house.

Kurt was his best friend, and he wasn’t opposed to having a sleepover even, but this? This was too awkward. Blaine opened a drawer and found a tube of toothpaste. He put a little on his finger and scrubbed it around in his mouth for a minute. It didn’t really fix the problem, but it made it a little less bad. He re-tucked his shirt and straightened his sweater and went back to Kurt’s room.

Kurt was dressed now in jeans and a fairly normal looking t-shirt. Well, tight jeans, but still jeans. At least he wasn’t still in that bathrobe because Blaine wasn’t sure he could face seeing Kurt in something that flapped open right now.

“I really should get home,” Blaine said softly, staring at his socks and wondering where his shoes were.

“Your car is still at Rachel’s, but I can take you over there right now,” Kurt answered. “I’m sorry this is awkward. I didn’t mean for it to be. I just, you were so drunk, and--”

“It’s ok,” Blaine finally looked at him and even smiled a little. “But I should get home. I need to shower and stuff.”

Kurt nodded. “Yeah, let me just grab my keys.” He headed for the doorway, but in the small bedroom that meant brushing past Blaine, and Blaine was still just hungover enough to misjudge how far to scoot over, because they bumped straight into each other. They both mumbled “sorry,” and “it’s my fault,” for a moment before Kurt put his hands squarely on Blaine’s shoulders. 

“Blaine, are you sure you’re sober enough to drive? Or do you need to wait a little while still? I can get you some breakfast or something...”

“No, I’m ok,” Blaine assured him. “Maybe we can drive through for a coffee? But I’ll be fine.”

Kurt stared carefully into his eyes for a few moments. Blaine stared back, trying to figure out whether he loved or hated having Kurt so close to his face right now.

“Well, you seem to be able to focus well enough. I guess you’re ok.” Kurt dropped his hands off Blaine’s shoulders and ushered him toward the door. “Oh, your shoes are there,” he gestured to the corner. “And your coat is on the back of the chair there. I’ll go warm up the car. Meet me downstairs when you’re ready?”

Blaine nodded dumbly. Yeah, he could do that.

* * * * *

The actual events of the party came back to Blaine as he drove home: drinking, dancing, singing, kissing Rachel Berry. Oh, he’d almost forgotten about that part. 

How could he forget that part? Of course he’d never tell anyone that that had been his first kiss, but it had been pretty memorable. It had also been really...confusing. In the ninety minutes that he spent driving home, at least seventy of them were focused on Rachel Berry, and her lips, and kissing them, and how he felt about it.

Why would a gay boy like kissing a girl anyway? Blaine couldn’t figure that one out yet. Maybe kissing wasn’t a gender-specific thing? Or maybe, just maybe, Blaine wasn’t quite as completely gay as he had thought? Now that was a complicated and confusing thought. Blaine sighed, and pulled into his designated parking spot at Dalton. At least he was boarding, and his parents wouldn’t be freaking out about him having been gone overnight. Thad was a good roommate and he’d cover for him.

* * * * *

A couple of days later at  _ The Lima Bean _ things got even more confusing. Kurt had been going on and on about how Blaine’s kissing Rachel was a sure sign that he had been wasted drunk when Rachel herself called and asked Blaine on a date. Kurt had laughed at first, until the pieces fell together in his head. 

“Why’d you say yes? You can’t lead her on…”

“Who says I’m leading her on?” 

Kurt’s face crumpled into some astounding blend of disgust, disdain, and shock, so Blaine tried to explain. “When we kissed it felt good.”

Kurt scoffed, then launched into a tirade about how everything feels good when you’re drunk, and reminding Blaine that he was gay.

_ I don’t even have my soulmate mark yet! _ Blaine’s brain screamed at him.  _ I know that I like guys, but maybe I like girls too. I’ve never thought about it. But maybe my soulmate is a girl. _ (Rationally he knew that his soulmate couldn’t be Rachel Berry, because he’d overheard her tell Kurt that her soulmate was Finn, but he wasn’t going to mention that to anyone. Soulmates were personal information and he had no business talking about anyone else’s soulmate.) Besides, going on a date with Rachel didn’t mean he wanted to be with her, but it might help him figure out if his orientation was more complex  than he’d thought.)

All these thoughts ran through his head as Kurt stared at him, but Blaine didn’t say them. Instead he just said “maybe I’m bi, I dunno.”

Kurt didn’t take that well at all. He started yelling at Blaine about how there was no such thing as being bisexual, and that Blaine was out and proud and what was this nonsense about going back into the closet.

Blaine felt like he was going to cry, but he held it in and forced himself to let it look like anger instead.

“However confusing this might be for you, it’s actually a lot more confusing for me,” he snapped. But he didn’t stop there. No, he went on to say harsh things about Kurt not being a good friend, and topped it off by accusing him of being as bad a bully as Karofsky. Then he walked out of the building without a backward glance.

* * * * *

Blaine didn’t talk to Kurt for three days. It was the longest they had ever gone without at least texting each other. Blaine missed his best friend, but he also was really, really mad at him. Kurt--who had his soulmate mark and knew what his future held--had no right to be so judgmental about Blaine’s attempts to figure things out.

Blaine went on his date with Rachel. It was fun, but he didn’t notice anything magical about it. He didn’t feel particularly attracted to her, but he wasn’t sure if that was because he was sober, because he was gay, or because he knew that she already had a soulmate. (Of course, he knew that Kurt already had a soulmate, and that didn’t stop Blaine from crushing on him, so maybe that wasn’t a good way to judge.)

Two days after the date, while Blaine was standing in line for coffee, Rachel accosted him. He hadn’t expected to run into anyone here today actually, but when she grabbed his arm he smiled politely before feeling her face smash into his.

Oh, that’s what kissing a girl sober felt like. 

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t… well, it wasn’t anything. The thought flashed through Blaine’s mind that he sure hoped that sober kissing of boys was more fun than this, because if it wasn’t… No, it had to be. Definitely had to be.

Rachel pulled back and looked at him expectantly.

“Yep,” Blaine said with a grin. “I’m gay.”


	7. Kurt - Inappropriate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x14 “Blame it on the Alcohol”
> 
> Two chapters in one day! (But they go together). This one is on the long side too, so enjoy! It may be a little longer gap before I have the next one ready but I promise I'm not abandoning this story before the boys get together. And I promise I'm not interfering with the canon timeline. I'm just adding a twist to it. :)  
> As usual, some artistic license is taken with the canon dialogue.

Things were getting harder with Blaine. When they had first met he had been so friendly and flirty, and Kurt had rejoiced at their obviously budding relationship. Then Blaine had just stopped flirting--except for when he didn't--and it was confusing for Kurt. Blaine was still friendly, but he had gotten...weird.

Most of the time he seemed to be trying to keep things between them strictly platonic, but then there were times when he asked Kurt to practice flirty songs with him. Kurt didn't want to make Blaine uncomfortable or push him into anything he wasn't ready for yet, but a flirty song was a flirty song so Kurt made the most of it and Blaine clearly reciprocated. Then, just as Kurt was beginning to feel confident that things were developing between them again, Blaine serenaded some guy at the Gap and told Kurt that he liked being friends and wanted to _stay being just friends ._

Kurt was getting tired of waiting. At this point the mark on his wrist was two things for him: is was a confirmation of feelings he already had for Blaine, but it was also a terrible tease. What was going on with Blaine anyway? Was he interested? Was he just a tease? Why was this so hard?

* * * * *

On the day that Finn mentioned a party at Rachel's house (specifically dedicated to drinking) Kurt began jumped on the idea. It only took him ten minutes (and some mild blackmailing) to secure an invitation to the party. Then he called Blaine.

A party seemed like a perfect opportunity to try to make some headway with Blaine. If he were away from Dalton and out of the uniform he might loosen up a little, and that could only be to Kurt’s advantage. Right?

Or not. Blaine had accepted the invitation readily enough, and Kurt had spent four days planning his outfit (and then changed six times before coming back to what he’d planned in the first place). But almost as soon as they arrived Blaine had started drinking. Kurt’s bad experience with April Rhodes’ chablis last year had been enough to turn him off to drinking anyway, but when Finn noticed him not drinking and asked about it, he admitted that he was also trying to impress Blaine.

Blaine, obviously didn’t have the same concern, because he was a mess. First he got giddy because Kurt and Finn were brothers even though they didn’t look alike. Then he mooned over Finn for being tall (well, Kurt couldn’t blame him too much on that one, height was clearly a sore point for Blaine!). He nearly fell on his face trying to walk across the room (and Kurt was glad he’d been there to catch him, but he also really wished that Blaine had _wanted_ to hold onto him that tightly, and not just grabbing as he stumbled. And then he kissed Rachel.

That was what did it, really. Initially the idea of two of his best friends kissing in a game of spin the bottle seemed hilarious to Kurt, and he even said so. But as soon as their faces smooshed together it got awkward. Kurt didn’t want Rachel to be kissing Blaine; he wanted to be kissing Blaine. Blaine was _his_ soulmate, not hers. (She had a soulmate of her own, even if she wasn’t speaking to him right now, so she really had no business touching Kurt’s!) If it had been a quick peck it might not have been so bad, but almost every kiss in that game had turned into a face-sucking fest, and this one was no exception.

And then they _sang_ together. A flirty duet. Blaine was supposed to sing flirty duets with Kurt! Not with some girl, and certainly not with Rachel Berry (whose lack of fashion sense was especially painful in the moment when she was juxtaposed with Blaine’s charming preppy ensemble). And they didn’t just sing. Oh no, they flirted, they danced, they even scooted together for a few body rolls. Kurt felt sick. For a moment he almost wished that he had been drinking so that he could go throw up.

But he knew it wouldn’t make him feel better. So instead he went and got a drink, and when the song was done Kurt gave it to Blaine.

“Great song,” he said. “You must be thirsty.”

“Thanks!” Blaine gushed, and gulped the whole thing down. “I think I need another one of these.”

* * * * *

Blaine was drunk. Like REALLY drunk. Kurt knew he couldn’t let him drive back to Dalton so he laid him down in the back of his Navigator and took him home. Getting Blaine inside was rough since he was only half awake at this point, and Kurt ended up half carrying, half dragging him up the stairs to his bedroom. Kurt’s bed was big enough for two people, although, Blaine! Kurt shivered at the thought of it. Sharing a bed with Blaine? With his soulmate? Obviously Kurt didn’t plan to do anything with him (and oh wow that idea made him feel really awkward). They weren’t even together yet. But it didn’t make sense to make Blaine stay down on the couch when there was room in the bed.

Yes, they could share the bed. They wouldn’t even have to touch, really. He put Blaine on one side of the bed, pulled off his shoes, and pulled the blankets over him. Sleeping in jeans might not be the most comfortable thing but Blaine was obviously too drunk to care, and there was no way that Kurt was going to take off any of his clothing. (In fact, Kurt went into the bathroom to change his own clothes, even though Blaine certainly seemed to be out cold. Kurt wasn’t about to take chances.)

When Kurt returned from the bathroom and faced the prospect of actually getting into the bed though, well, that was another matter entirely. He shouldn’t feel awkward about this. They were friends--best friends in fact. They were soulmates too. It shouldn’t feel wrong. It shouldn’t feel weird… but it did a little bit.

 _Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know_ _,_ Kurt reasoned to himself. _If he wakes up next to me that would be awkward for him, because he doesn’t know that we’re soulmates. But it’s not awkward for me. It’s not…_

He chanted to himself in his head. _It’s not weird, it’s not weird, it’s not weird_ as he gingerly lifted the blankets and slipped in on the other side of the bed from where Blaine was lying.

Kurt lay stiffly for a while, careful to not let any part of himself touch any part of Blaine. Yes, the bed was big enough for two, but when those two were actually in the bed it seemed, well, not quite as roomy as it had before. Kurt was forcing himself to take slow, deep breaths in an attempt to get himself to sleep. _In...out...in...out…_ He was finally relaxing when he felt Blaine shifting in the bed next to him, and then--

Oh my, that was Blaine’s arm. That was Blaine’s arm on his stomach. That was Blaine’s arm on his stomach and Blaine’s face on his shoulder and Kurt almost jumped out of the bed right then. But somehow, he didn’t. And Blaine’s breathing stayed slow and even, and Kurt concentrated on it in an effort to make his own breathing match. _In...out...in...out…_

Relaxing seemed easier this time, but Kurt wasn’t sure whether it was because he had already been working at it for a while, or if it was because of the cuddly warm body next to him. He decided it didn’t matter. Blaine might not be able to appreciate this moment, but Kurt was going to. He didn’t have to feel guilty over this: Blaine had started it! Kurt was just a willing recipient! He smiled to himself--a broader smile than he really had in months, and allowed himself to cuddle up to Blaine. For someone who almost never touched anyone, Kurt found that it felt surprisingly comfortable and natural to be here with him like this. If Blaine felt weird about it when they woke up, well, Kurt would just chalk it up to people doing weird stuff in their sleep. But for now he could rest--however briefly--in the arms of his soulmate.

* * * * *

Kurt woke up to sunlight streaming into his room. Blaine was still cuddled up to him, breathing softly. It was just as well that Kurt had wakened first, so there wouldn’t be an awkward moment when Blaine woke up and realized he’d been cuddling with him. He started to get up and realized that Blaine’s arm was still across--no, around--him. Blaine’s arm around was him. His sweater had scrunched up his arm in the night, and his wrist was right there, against Kurt’s body, with nothing between Kurt and Blaine’s soulmate mark but a thin layer of cotton t-shirt.

Kurt gasped at the realization of how easy it would be to gently lift Blaine’s hand and just look...just see for himself his own name written on the other boy’s wrist. It had been a rough few weeks and last night had been a hard night and if he could just see it Kurt knew he could be patient a while longer until Blaine was ready.

Immediately Kurt tried to talk himself out of it. It was rude--beyond rude--to look at someone’s wrist. It was borderline unethical in fact. Having someone’s name on your wrist meant that they were your soulmate, and that your relationship was meant to be, but there were some people who didn’t follow it. People deserved to have a choice, and while Kurt definitely had no intention of walking away from Blaine at this point, Blaine still had a right to say ‘no,’ or even just to say ‘not yet.’

But he had Blaine’s name on his own wrist. That made this different, right?  It might be wrong to look at the wrist of a stranger without permission, but Blaine was his best friend, and his soulmate. Surely it was ok to see your own soulmate’s wrist, even if you hadn’t talked about being soulmates yet?

Slowly, gingerly Kurt slid his hand up the side of his body until it rested against Blaine’s. Then he shifted his body until he could slip his hand under Blaine’s and lift his arm, just a little.

Kurt’s name wasn’t there. Blaine’s wrist was blank.

* * * * *

Kurt spent the next few hours in shock. He went through his morning skincare routine on autopilot, hardly reacting when his dad flipped out over Blaine’s being in his bed (at least he hadn’t caught them cuddling!) When Blaine woke up Kurt knew he probably had a hangover, so he gently tried to explain where they were and what was going on.

All Blaine seemed to care about was where the bathroom was.

It was awkward now. Kurt was grateful that Blaine hadn’t wakened while they were still cuddling, because that would have been even worse. Kurt got dressed in a hurry while Blaine was in the bathroom, hoping that it might help take the edge off a little (because Blaine was already dressed--or still dressed actually--and Kurt being in his pajamas and bathrobe felt a little too...intimate?). But it didn’t seem to make a difference.

Blaine seemed more awake when he came back, but he wouldn’t look at Kurt, and Kurt was worried about whether he could safely drive yet. Blaine seemed to be in a hurry to go though, so Kurt said he’d go get his keys. The last twenty-four hours had had enough awkwardness, Kurt wasn’t going to add to it if he didn’t have to. They bumped into each other as Kurt headed for the door, and Kurt decided that if Blaine couldn’t navigate a bedroom then he had no business trying to navigate a road. He gripped Blaine’s shoulders and looked him in the eye.

“Blaine, are you sure you’re sober enough to drive? Or do you need to wait a little while still? I can get you some breakfast or something?”

“No, I’m ok,” Blaine assured him. “Maybe we can drive through for a coffee? But I’ll be fine.”

Kurt stared carefully into his eyes for a few moments, doing his best to assess whether Blaine really was sober enough to drive. He looked tired but his eyes were in focus, and oh it was awkward being so close to Blaine’s face right now, knowing what he now knew. Blaine stared back, and Kurt had to clamp his jaw tightly to keep from just blurting out everything. He took a careful breath and finally murmured, “well, you seem to be able to focus. I guess you’re ok.”

He dropped his hands from Blaine’s shoulders and headed for the door, mumbling something about warming up the car. He slipped down the stairs and through the kitchen quickly. He knew there was going to be an awkward conversation with his father soon, but the one he’d just had with Blaine was all the awkward he could handle for one morning. He would talk to his dad later.

* * * * *

A couple of days later at _The Lima Bean_ things got worse.

Kurt had hoped that once Blaine was over his hangover that things would return to the old status quo. A usually-platonic-and-occasionally-flirtatious best friendship with his soulmate wasn’t perfect, but it was better than the awkwardness that now existed between them.

Kurt tried to do little things to help show Blaine that things were ok. He ordered the same kind of coffee as Blaine, and tried to lighten the mood by making fun of things. “You spent the entire night sucking Rachel Berry’s face. That, sir, is what we call rock bottom!”

Blaine didn’t seem to think it was funny. And then--in a moment of dramatic irony worthy of the Greek tragedians--Rachel asked Blaine on a date and he accepted.

Kurt was too distracted to fully register it at first, continuing blithely with his ribbing about how Rachel had a crush on Blaine before the facts really sank in.

“Wait a second, why’d you say yes?”

Blaine started explaining that kissing her had felt good and that he was feeling confused about things and, well, maybe he was bisexual.

Kurt had to hold on to the edge of the table to keep from jumping up and down and screaming. He didn’t really mean to yell at Blaine--to get angry at him--but he couldn’t help it. Blaine couldn’t move on from Kurt before he’d even given him a real chance! Blaine might not know that they were soulmates, but Kurt knew! And he was not going to give up so easily! He tried to reassure Blaine that he was most definitely gay. He belittled people who hid in the closet, and told Blaine how much he looked up to him for being out and proud.

But it didn’t work. At all. Instead Blaine looked like he was about to cry, then he told Kurt that he was as bad a bully as Karofsky, and walked out.

Kurt watched him go. Then he put his face in his hands and cried.

* * * * *

Rachel saw right through Kurt when he offered to help her clean up the mess from the party, but he didn’t care. He had to know about her date with Blaine.

Rachel chattered amiably about their date, and how much fun they had had. Well sure, _she would have had fun like that with me too_ , Kurt thought. _It doesn’t mean anything_. Oh, but Rachel seemed determined to believe that it meant something. He knew she was still desperately trying to recover from the situation with Finn and Santana, and that she was pretty cynical about the whole soulmate thing right now. Still, that didn't give her a right to move in on Blaine. He had to set her straight.

“I’m glad you had fun,” he said through his teeth. “But you don’t have a future together, he continued with a syrupy tone. “Because there’s something you and Blaine will never have, and that’s chemistry.”

 _Or matching soulmate marks_ , he added silently. But he wasn’t going to admit that to Rachel any more than he was going to admit it to anyone else. She could keep a secret for about eight seconds and this was his secret to keep.

Kurt knew Rachel. He remembered when she had obsessed over Finn, and he had watched her move on. He knew that all it would take would be a few well-placed comments to help her move on from her infatuation with Blaine as well.

“You were both drunk,” he reminded her. “You weren’t fully present mentally or emotionally when you kissed him. It skewed your judgment and your memory of the whole event. And I know you had fun on your date, but you would have had just as much fun with me, or with Tina. One fun date doesn’t mean anything. Even a kiss doesn’t necessarily mean anything…”

What Kurt did not expect was what Rachel said next. “I’m gonna prove you wrong,” she said defiantly. “I’m gonna kiss him sober.”

 

* * * * *

Kurt was frustrated. He was trying to not let it show too much, but he snapped at his dad while they were (trying to) make souffle, and it wasn’t long until his dad snapped back, grilling him about Blaine having spent the night.

“I’m worried about you being inappropriate in my house,” Burt blustered.

Inappropriate? _Inappropriate?_ Kurt sputtered for a moment before he could find the words. “We were fully clothed the entire time,” Kurt assured him. _And we are soulmates_ , his mind added,  _we are meant to be together_. But he bit his tongue. His dad could keep a secret, but Kurt didn’t think it was fair to tell anyone--even his dad--when Blaine didn’t even know yet. No, he would keep this secret a while longer.

His dad still wasn’t satisfied though, so Kurt said what he had to.

“Fine. I’m sorry. I won’t have sleepovers with anyone that might be gay, without asking you first.”

Thank you.

* * * * *

Kurt sat with Rachel in _The Lima Bean_ waiting for Blaine to show up. They hadn’t talked since their argument here the other day, and Kurt was a little nervous about seeing him. He was also very concerned about Rachel’s melodramatic diva plan. It wasn’t going to work. He knew it wouldn’t work. Blaine was _his_ soulmate, not hers. Still, Kurt couldn’t help feeling antsy about the whole weird situation.

When it came down to it though, Rachel’s plan may have been one of the best things she’d ever thought of. She kissed Blaine and within moments he grinned at her.

“Yep, I’m gay! One hundred percent gay. Thank you so much for clearing that up for me Rachel!”

Kurt attempted to be sympathetic to Rachel’s poor broken heart, but thankfully she didn’t seem to feel too broken and ran off yammering something about the whole experience being songwriting gold.

Meanwhile Kurt’s poor broken heart mended almost instantly. Blaine was over his orientation-identity crisis, and that meant that things could get back on track between them. Blaine might not have his soulmate mark yet, but Kurt knew it would come. Besides which, they had had enough conversations about these kinds of things that Kurt knew that Blaine was willing to take a chance on a relationship even without a mark. All Kurt had to do now was make sure that Blaine knew which guy to take that chance with. It couldn’t be too hard, could it?


	8. Blaine - Sexy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x15 “Sexy”  
> Since Kurt’s audition didn’t go well and the Warblers didn’t give him a solo, I’ve always wondered why he was singing co-lead on ‘Animal’ with Blaine. So I explored that a bit in this one.
> 
> Also I have outlined the rest of the story. It’s only partially written, but I do have a total chapter count now. :) I’m not going to give away anything, but I think you’ll find that there are surprises throughout, right up through the end.
> 
> As usual, some artistic license is taken with canon dialogue.

The encounter with that bizarre, tracksuit-wearing coach from McKinley was one of the weirdest things that had ever happened to Blaine. Almost nothing she said even made sense, but the one thing Blaine could understand from her ramblings was that it was important for the Warblers to add some sex appeal to their regionals performance if they wanted to win.

“We’ve gotta hold an emergency meeting,” he muttered as the coach stormed out of  _ The Lima Bean _ .

Kurt was looking at him strangely. “Why?”

“Weren’t you listening? The Warblers gotta do something sexified!” Blaine’s eyebrows were bobbing up and down eagerly. He wasn’t sure  what they were going to do, but he was excited for it.

Kurt blew it off. “You shouldn’t listen to her, she’s not a reliable source for anything.”

“But isn’t she, like, important at McKinley?”

“She’s just the cheerleading coach,” Kurt shrugged. 

“How does she know you then?” Blaine gently sipped at his cup.

Kurt sighed. “I was a cheerleader for a while last year.”

Blaine choked and almost spit hot coffee in Kurt’s face. Oh this had just given him a flurry of mental images of his best friend that were  _ not  _ platonic. Not even a little bit. “Uh, Kurt?”

The sandy-haired boy shrugged. “We weren’t getting solos in glee club, so Mercedes and I went to Coach Sylvester and convinced her that her already over-the-top competition numbers would be even better with vocals.”

“You didn’t!” This forceful, grab-life-by-the-horns, take-what-he-wants side of Kurt was so, so sexy, and it didn’t come out very often at Dalton. Blaine wished he got to see it more often. It made him proud of Kurt, and proud to be his friend, even if it also made it harder to be only a friend.

“I did,” Kurt dipped his head flirtatiously and looked at Blaine up through his eyelashes. “We won nationals, partly thanks to my singing a lengthy Celine Dion medley--”

“Whoa!”

“In French,” Kurt added, cocking one eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Blaine shook his head affectionately. “You never stop surprising me, Kurt.”

Kurt glanced back at him over his shoulder. “I’m a complex individual.”

* * * * *

The Warbler council was off-topic, as usual.

“I’m just concerned that maybe we need to take a different approach,” Blaine sighed, feeling like he had said this at least ten times in the last hour. “We have always stuck with a very classy, but buttoned-up approach to our performances. We need to raise the bar here, and make it a little more fun.”

“Get yer sexy on!” someone yelled from the back.

“Precisely!” Blaine threw his hands in the air.

“So what do you propose?” Wes asked. He looked tired.

“Uh, we flirt with the audience?” Blaine hadn’t really gotten to the  _ how _ of this project, he was still focused on trying to convince them to  do it in the first place.

“We’re not cheerleaders,” David said pointedly.

“Actually,” Blaine said, perking up as an idea popped into his head, “one of us used to be.”

“What?”

Kurt’s eyes went wide for a moment before he composed himself and stood up. “Yes, I have experience with that. I was part of a national championship team.”

“Alright, fine,” Wes announced with a few pounds of his gavel. “I think  _ Animal _ is the most flirty number we have prepared, so Kurt, Blaine, you two are in charge of helping make it  _ sexy _ .” He scrunched his face and scraped his tongue across his teeth as though the last word had tasted funny. “My girlfriend goes to Crawford Country Day, our sister school, so I will call her and see if she can round up a small audience for us tomorrow afternoon. We can test out whether the Warblers are able to do flirty--”

“Sexy!” that voice from the back hollered.

“Whether the Warblers can do  _ sexy , _ ” Wes corrected. And then we will decide what to do with it from there. Agreed?” 

Blaine looked around the room and saw almost every hand go up. Kurt was looking at him weirdly, so he smiled at him. 

The gavel hit the desk with a loud bang. “It is decided,” Wes announced. “Kurt, Blaine, the rest of us will take a half hour break while you two decide how we should adjust the number. When we get back, you’ll teach it to us, ok?”

Heads around the room nodded as boys got up, gathered their things, and headed out.

Blaine accepted a couple of congratulatory claps on the back as his friends made their way past him, and soon he and Kurt were left alone in the room.

Kurt was sitting silently on the end of one of the couches, hands folded in his lap, and staring at his knees.

“I have no idea what to suggest,” he confessed.

“Well, I’m a master of the step-touch, but I haven’t had the opportunity to do much more than that,” Blaine shrugged. “You’re the one who did a, quote,  _ lengthy _ , routine,” Blaine raised his fingers to make air quotes. “And you won nationals with it, right?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have to create that choreography,” Kurt explained, looking up to meet his face. “And the kinds of moves that the squad did were, um, I can’t see blazer-wearing prep-school boys doing them.”

“Hey, I can shake my hips!” Blaine cried, pretending to be offended, and demonstrating.

With careful precision Kurt rose to his feet, staring down his nose at Blaine in a terribly superior way. Without a word he slowly rotated his hips in a full circle, then gyrated them back and forth a few times before lifting his leg in a rapid kick so high that Blaine had to cringe just a little.

“No wonder your coach liked you,” he blurted.

“The Warblers can’t do that,” Kurt repeated. “And that’s all I really know how to do.” He shrugged his shoulders in defeat and dropped to the couch again.

Blaine gulped. “Well, I have another idea. How about we don’t do a choreographed dance. What if we just encourage everyone to be sexy in whatever way comes naturally to them, because I can’t do what you just did, but it definitely looked good when you did it.” Blaine hoped he wasn’t blushing furiously.

“How about props?” Kurt suggested, sitting up straighter. “Coach Sylvester liked props a lot: confetti canons and flaming hula hoops and--”

“I don’t know that those kinds of things will send quite the right message,” Blaine pointed out.

“The New Directions did a performance with suspenders and bowler hats that started a sex riot,” Kurt mentioned nonchalantly.

“They did what?” Blaine asked, wondering how he hadn’t heard about this yet either.

“It was Britney Spears too,” Kurt added with a wink. “You would have loved it.”

Blaine swallowed thickly. “I bet I would have.”

“So, I don’t know what we might have access to, but--”

“I happen to know that Thad can get us a bubble machine,” Blaine blurted.

Kurt’s eyes lit up. “Perfect!”

* * * * *

The performance went off without a hitch (as long as hitting Kurt in the head with a beach ball didn’t count as a hitch… Kurt hadn’t said anything and Blaine wasn’t about to remind him). Kurt had shared lead vocals with him (since Wes had made them co-leads in planning it everyone seemed to assume that it made sense for them to be co-leads in singing it as well, and no way would Blaine turn down a chance to hear that amazing countertenor voice). Everyone doing their own thing had meant that the performance was very different from the Warblers’ usual synchronized routines, but they had just played that out amid the chaos of the bubbles and it seemed to go over pretty well with the girls. Some of them even tried to give Blaine their phone numbers afterward, and he had to break it to them that he was gay. 

Blaine had enjoyed watching all his friends show off their own versions of sexy. But Kurt had been...something. Blaine couldn’t quite place it. In some moments his flirtation was so,  so hot, but in others… It suddenly occurred to him that maybe Kurt didn’t feel well.

“Are you ok?” he asked gently. Kurt looked at him oddly. “You kept making those weird faces while we sang...it looked like maybe you had gas pains or something.”

Kurt’s face flushed red. “Those were my sexy faces…” He sighed. “How are we supposed to get up on the stage at regionals and sell sexy to the judges when I have as much sexual appeal and knowledge as a, a…” he stopped a moment and looked at Blaine. “A baby penguin.”

Blaine felt a hundred kinds of awkward and embarrassed about this whole conversation, although he was glad that it had happened now rather than after regionals. At least today’s audience was just a few girls from CCD, and the performance didn’t have any awards riding on it. Still, if Kurt was going to get this awkward, it was probably something they should talk about. Blaine tried to sound comforting when he muttered “we’ll figure something out.”

* * * * *

The next afternoon Blaine was sitting in Kurt’s room, (trying to not think about the last time he had been here) and attempting to help Kurt practice his sexy faces.

“How about flirty?”

Kurt raised his eyebrows, bit his lip, and tipped his head.

“Ok so give me...sensual. But don’t make fun of it. Really try.”

Kurt lifted his chin, pursing his lips out and squinting slightly.

“Ok now give me sultry…”

Kurt stretched his mouth out and wrinkled his nose. 

Blaine did his best to keep a straight face but he couldn’t quite do it. He had seen Kurt be so sexy when he wasn’t even trying, but apparently he got performance anxiety about doing it on command. There wasn’t much point in continuing with this approach, so Blaine cleared his throat. “Um, Kurt, they’re all sort of looking the same.”

Kurt threw up his hands in frustration and strode to the far edge of the bedroom (which was only a few steps away). “It’s because the face I’m actually doing is uncomfortable!” he exclaimed. “This is pointless Blaine, I don’t know how to be sexy because I don’t know the first thing about sex.” Kurt’s ears were bright red and it was creeping across his face as he stood there wringing his hands.

“Kurt, you’re blushing,” Blaine suddenly became aware that this wasn’t just a weird situation for him, it was also an incredibly difficult one for Kurt. Kurt obviously trusted him a great deal to even say as much as he had. Blaine resolved to not ruin it. “Maybe we should have a conversation about it,” he suggested. “I’ll tell you what I know…”

Kurt was shaking his head so hard that Blaine thought his perfect hair would come loose and fall in his face. “No, no, no, no, no! I don’t wanna know the graphic details--”

“You’re gonna have to learn about it someday,” Blaine offered, as gently as he could.

“Not today!” Kurt blurted without even looking at him. He was obviously very uncomfortable. “I think you should leave.”

Blaine slowly nodded. He didn’t want to leave things like this, but he also didn’t want to make their friendship any more awkward than it was. He got up and walked out of the room.

* * * * *

Blaine had to do something. Kurt was his best friend, and Blaine felt protective over him. He may have also had some... personal ...reasons for wanting Kurt to be educated about sex, but he was trying really hard to not let that affect his thought process. 

Much.

It was obvious that Blaine couldn’t reach out to Kurt directly--at least not on this topic. Blaine had an idea almost immediately for something he could do, but it was awkward, and he didn’t want to do it. After all, he had only met Burt Hummel once, and it hadn’t gone over very well. He didn’t particularly want to make their second meeting awkward as well. But the more Blaine thought about it, the more he realized that talking to Burt was the most logical thing to do.

* * * * *

The first few moments went amazingly well. Blaine knew which piece was the carburetor and handed it to Burt easily. They slightly almost bonded even. But then Blaine got to the point and things got awkward. Blaine couldn’t even look Burt in the face when he said it.

“Have you ever talked to Kurt about sex?”

_ Whew, ok, that was out there. It could only get easier from here, right? _

Burt eyed him warily. “Are you gay? or straight? or what?”

Blaine smiled slightly at his recent experiences with sorting out that particular question. “I’m definitely gay.”

Burt nodded. “Ok, good. Kurt needs someone like you to talk to.”

Blaine shook his head. Burt was a nice guy, but it was becoming obvious to Blaine that he’d have to just be blunt.

“I’ve tried talking to him, but he basically puts his fingers in his ears and starts singing.”

Burt brushed it off and focused on the car engine in front of him. ”When he’s ready, he’ll listen.”

Blaine thought about Kurt, about his romanticised notions of love and relationships, and about the fact that he had a soulmate mark and how careless those could make some people.

“I’m worried that it might be too late,” was all he said.

Burt’s head snapped up.

“Dalton doesn’t even have sex ed classes, and it’s not…” No, that was not the direction Blaine wanted to go. “It’s not even that,” he tried again. “Kurt is the most moral, compassionate person I’ve ever met. And he trusts people, maybe more than he should. And one day he’ll meet somebody.” Ugh, Blaine’s stomach twisted in knots to even think about it. “Maybe he’ll meet his soulmate, and jump in too fast, and too trusting, and he’s not going to know how to be safe, or even what is out there…”

Burt squinted at Blaine, but his eyes went straight through him anyway. “You really care about him, don’t you.”

“He’s my best friend. I don’t want to see him get hurt.” Well, that  _ was _ the truth, even if it wasn’t the whole story.

“Hmm.” Burt appeared to be thinking, so Blaine just waited as Burt reached a tool deep into the car’s engine and adjusted something with a grunt. Eventually Burt looked up at him again.

“You think he will listen to me? Kids aren’t famous for listening to their parents you know.”

“Well he won’t listen to anyone else, and he won’t go seek out the information on his own,” Blaine answered. “I’m blown away by the relationship you have with him, sir. I don’t have a relationship like that with my dad. Not at all. But you, you can take advantage of it. I think he would let you talk to him.” He cleared his throat and continued softly. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping.”

The edge of Burt’s mouth curved into the smallest hint of a smile. “You are.” 

Blaine dropped his head, feeling more embarrassed than proud about this whole encounter, even though he knew both feelings were valid.

Then Burt continued. “I know I’m not the most approachable person. I’m glad Kurt has a friend like you who will go to bat for him, even when it’s hard. You’re a good guy, Anderson.” 


	9. Burt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a slight tangent from the Klaine story, but fills in about the world that they live in, and how Kurt was raised (and why).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t planning this originally, but someone asked and then this whole thing came to me…Originally it was going to be the epilogue, but since you’ve been waiting, and this is ready (and is separate from the sequence of the story anyway) then I’m sharing it now. The remaining chapters are outlined and underway, but I don’t know how much writing time I’ll have so I can’t make promises about publishing dates. I’ll try for every weekend!

Burt Hummel had gotten a name on his wrist when he was fourteen.

_Caroline Johnson_

He didn’t know who that was, but he was in high school, so he knew he had time. He dated a few girls just for fun, but then he fell hard for Elizabeth O’Donnell. When they were twenty-two, they got married. Neither of them had each other’s names on their wrists, but they loved each other, and it didn’t matter. They were wildly, deliriously happy together.

Successful, non-soulmated couples were not as rare as society made them out to be, but they weren’t common either. Most people felt so sure about soulmates that they naturally paid attention to the successful soulmated couples, and to the unsuccessful non-soulmated couples, and mostly ignored the people who didn’t fit the pattern. According to polls, 92% of the population believed that a person should marry their soulmate.

Burt and Lizzy Hummel didn’t mind. They had never been particularly concerned with what other people thought anyway. They were happy just being themselves. When they had a son, they did their best to teach him to be proud of who he was, and to just be himself. They told him that happiness comes from listening to your heart, rather than to messages from society or peers. They told him that his fate was in his own hands, not anyone else’s, and that he always had a right to make his own choices about things.

When Lizzy died, Burt did his best to go on teaching Kurt those lessons. He never showed his son his wrist, or the faded lettering there. At first Kurt had been too young to really understand, but then after Lizzy’s death, Burt feared that telling Kurt the truth might break his heart even more. If Kurt believed that his parents were soulmates, then maybe he would feel (just a little) like their family was still held together.

* * * * *

As Kurt grew into his teens, Burt knew it was likely that Kurt had his mark. But Kurt never said anything, and Burt respected his privacy. Soulmate marks were personal.

When Kurt came out to him, Burt realized that part of Kurt’s quietness on the matter might be because he wasn’t ready for the world to know his orientation yet. Again, Burt respected Kurt’s privacy, and his right to make his own choices about things.

* * * * *

Truth be told, Burt rarely thought about his soulmate mark as anything more than just part of his skin, like freckles or hair or a scar. When Kurt introduced him to Carole Hudson they hit it off immediately. Burt didn’t ask about her mark and didn’t mention his. In the one moment that he thought about it, he assumed that her soulmate had been her dead husband.

And then one day at her house that he saw a stack of mail sitting on the kitchen counter and happened to notice the name on the top envelope: _Caroline J. Hudson_.

* * * * *

“Carole, I need to ask ya about somethin’,” Burt said as they were eating dinner together that night. The boys were having sleepovers with their respective friends, so it was just the two of them.

“Sure, shoot!” She grinned. She did that a lot, Burt noticed.

“I wasn’t lookin’, but I kinda saw your mail on the counter today...and on top there was a thing from the city--”

She put down her fork. “I don’t need money, Burt. I’m doing fine.”

He chuckled, then cleared his throat. “Um, no, that’s not what I was going to say at all.”

She squinted at him, picked up her fork, and took another bite.

“I just happened to notice that your full name is Caroline, and that your middle initial is J…”

“Yeah,” she said between chews. She swallowed and smiled again. “My maiden name was Johnson, but after Christopher died I kept the Hudson because of Finn.”

Burt was pretty sure that his heart skipped a beat or two (though if anyone--especially Kurt--had asked him in that moment he would have definitely denied it).

“Burt, honey, are you ok?”

He nodded. Then carefully, slowly, he rolled up his shirtsleeve and laid his arm across the table, palm up.

It only took Carole a moment to realize what he was doing before she unclasped her wide bracelet and laid her wrist out next to his. In a delicate script across her wrist it said

_Burt Hummel_

“Well I’ll be,” he whispered. “I always assumed that…”

“Christopher was my high school boyfriend, we got married because I got pregnant.” She twisted her hand over so that it gripped his. “I loved him, but I had never planned to stay with him...not until Finn…”

Burt swallowed thickly. “I’m four years older than you. I was already married by then…”

Carole shrugged. “You know what? We are here now. That’s enough for me.”

* * * * *

They got engaged two days later, and married a week after that.

When you know, you just know.

* * * * *

* * * * *

When Kurt met Blaine, Burt knew right away that Blaine was someone important, so he tried to be cool about it. It had been more than a year since Kurt had come out, and for a while Burt had tried to avoid thinking about his kid having a boyfriend. He had slowly warmed up to the idea though, and if he was honest he had a feeling that Blaine was probably going to be the guy.

There were a few awkward mishaps along the way, like when Kurt finally admitted that the way he had met Blaine was because he had skipped half a day of school, or the time Burt found Blaine in Kurt’s bed. But all in all Blaine seemed to be a good kid, all prep school manners and carefully groomed decorum. He was a little formal, but Burt liked him well enough. At least, he liked him until the day he walked into the tire shop and asked Burt whether he’d talked to Kurt about sex.

So much for manners! Who did this kid think he was? Telling Burt how to raise his own kid? He leveled his gaze at him.

“Are you gay? or straight? or what?”

Blaine smiled slightly. “I’m definitely gay.”

Burt nodded. This could work out well after all. He'd been talking with Kurt about relationships (in a general sense) for years, but the nitty gritty of talking about sex was a harder topic. “Ok, good. Kurt needs someone like you to talk to.”

Blaine shook his head. “I’ve tried talking to him, but he basically puts his fingers in his ears and starts singing.”

 _Well crap_ _._ Burt stared at the car parts in front of him, trying to think of how to respond to that. “When he’s ready, he’ll listen.” There, that should shut him up. These talks were awkward enough with his own kid, he did not want to be having one with Blaine!

“I’m worried that it might be too late,” Blaine said.

Burt’s head snapped up. Did Blaine know something he didn’t? What went on at that boys school anyway?

Blaine’s voice got soft--affectionate even. “Kurt is the most moral, compassionate person I’ve ever met. And he trusts people, maybe more than he should. And one day he’ll meet somebody. Maybe he’ll meet his soulmate, and jump in too fast, and too trusting, and he’s not going to know how to be safe, or even what is out there…”

The corners of Burt’s mouth twitched, but he managed to keep the smile in and maintain a straight face. Blaine clearly had no idea how fond Kurt was of him. It was almost funny to watch how much those two bumbled around each other. He cleared his throat and squinted at the kid. “You really care about him, don’t you.”

“He’s my best friend. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

“Hmm.” Burt did his best to keep a straight face. He focused on the car engine for a few minutes, trying to think of a response that wasn’t, ‘ _so that’s what they’re calling it these days ._ ’ Eventually Burt looked up at the awkward boy again.

“You think he will listen to me? Kids aren’t famous for listening to their parents you know.”

“Well he won’t listen to anyone else, and he won’t go seek out the information on his own,” Blaine answered smartly. “I’m blown away by the relationship you have with him, sir. I don’t have a relationship like that with my dad. Not at all. But you, you can take advantage of it. I think he would let you talk to him.” He cleared his throat and continued softly. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping.”

 _HA!_ It was a good thing he’d said it, because Burt had been about to bring it up. Instead, the edge of Burt’s mouth curved into the smallest hint of a smile. “You are.”

Blaine dropped his head, looking appropriately embarrassed about the whole thing. Burt allowed himself a moment of parental indignation before he spoke again. As weird as this entire conversation had been, he did have to give the kid props for coming to him like this. “I know I’m not the most approachable person. I’m glad Kurt has a friend like you who will go to bat for him, even when it’s hard. You’re a good guy, Anderson.”

* * * * *

So Burt had a sex talk with Kurt. The first thing Kurt did was to stick his fingers in his ears and literally start singing. Burt almost burst out laughing. Yes, that was exactly what Blaine had said he would do. It was an unsettling moment, realizing that Blaine probably knew Kurt almost as well as he did. At least in some ways. He swallowed hard, realizing that if things went the way he suspected, Blaine might get to know Kurt better than Burt did...in some ways…

Burt told his son to listen to his feelings, and to realize that his heart and head would be affected by sex at least as much as his body would. As he always had, Burt encouraged Kurt to make his own choices, but to do so carefully.

“Don’t throw yourself around like you don’t matter. Because you matter, Kurt.”

* * * * *

After Kurt went up to his room, Burt wondered if he’d done it right.

* * * * *

* * * * *

On the day that Kurt approached his father, holding Blaine’s hand, and announced to him that they were soulmates, Burt smiled and said, “I know.”

“Wait,” Kurt looked at him curiously. “You know? You saw my--”

“No,” Burt said matter-of-factly. “I mean I figured you had your mark. Most guys do by your age. But you hadn’t said anything to me about it and I didn’t figure it was my business to pry.”

“So how…” Kurt trailed off, letting the question hang in the air without actually speaking the words.”

“The way you talked about him,” he nodded toward Blaine. “I knew he was somethin’ special almost as soon as you met him.”


	10. Kurt - You Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x15 “Sexy”  
> (If you don’t remember Blaine’s side of these events, you might want to revisit chapter 8...)

“Well, well, if it isn’t my sweet, sweet Porcelain.” The drawling voice behind Kurt startled him

“Coach Sylvester. What are you doing here?” 

While Kurt had always been able to maintain a decent working relationship with Coach Sylvester, he certainly didn’t consider her a friend, and he wasn’t thrilled about having her appear in his favorite coffee shop.

She launched into an explanation about how this year’s regionals competition was going to be different and how she was here to trade secrets with him. Kurt muttered a few apologies to the dumbstruck Blaine for Coach Sylvester’s bizarre tirade (and her incredibly unorthodox coffee-additives). When he could not take any more, Kurt finally shut her down.

“I’m sorry Coach, but you and I are not in cahoots.”

She squinted at him, snapping the lid on her coffee cup. 

“We probably shoulda nailed that down before I gave you my top secret intel. Porcelain, you’ve just made a powerful enemy.” With that, she stormed out.

Kurt stared after her, jaw open in disbelief. Coach Sylvester had always been weird, but this was a new level even for her.

“We’ve gotta hold an emergency meeting,” Blaine murmured.

Kurt turned to face him, eyebrow lifted. “Why?”

“Weren’t you listening? The Warblers gotta do something sexified!” Blaine’s eyebrows were bobbing up and down eagerly.

Kurt almost snorted. “You shouldn’t listen to her, she’s not a reliable source for anything. She’s just the cheerleading coach,” Kurt shrugged, swirling the coffee cup in his hand before taking a swallow.

“How does she know you then?” 

Kurt sighed. This was one of those things that he had managed to not bring up yet with Blaine, and he was hoping it wouldn’t have to come up. This was definitely not going to help with making a good impression on Blaine. “I was a cheerleader for a while last year.”

Blaine choked and almost spit hot coffee in Kurt’s face. 

Great, now he was going to make fun of him too. Kurt cleared his throat and tried to retain a shred of dignity in this confession. “We weren’t getting solos in glee club, so Mercedes and I went to Coach Sylvester and convinced her that her already over-the-top competition numbers would be even better with vocals.”

“You didn’t!” Blaine’s eyes were very wide now, and he was starting to look impressed. Well, might as well go for the punchline then.

“I did,” Kurt smiled and dipped his head a little before looking up at Blaine through his eyelashes with shyness that was only partly feigned. “We won nationals, partly thanks to my singing a lengthy Celine Dion medley--”

“Whoa!” 

Kurt realized that maybe he needed to reconsider his previous assessment of what would or wouldn’t make a good impression on Blaine.

“In French,” he added, cocking one eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Really.” 

Blaine shook his head affectionately. “You never stop surprising me, Kurt.” 

Kurt smirked, and glanced over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “Well, I’m a complex individual.”

* * * * *

The Warbler council was off-topic, as usual. Blaine was doing his best to convince them that they should lighten up their performances with flirting or something, and it wasn’t going over very well. Kurt thought that the Warblers spent a lot of time arguing over dumb stuff, but at least they handled it in formal debate format rather than hair-pulling catfights or emotional sing-offs like the New Directions. Plus the Warblers always settled their setlists more than a week before a performance. He might be bored in some of these meetings, but at least they were organized.

“Get yer sexy on!” someone yelled from the back. Well, there was a Puck or Santana in every glee club, right?

“We’re not cheerleaders,” David said pointedly. A tittering laughter popcorned around the room. 

“Actually, one of us used to be.”

Kurt’s eyes went wide. That was  _ not _ something he had intended to share with all the Warblers. Blaine was one thing--he was his best friend (and his soulmate) and he wouldn’t make fun of him for it. But the other guys? Kurt shivered as he glanced around the room. One face after another turned to him, so he cleared his throat, straightened his blazer, and stood up. “Yes, I have experience with that. I was part of a national championship team.”

“Alright, fine,” Wes announced with a few pounds of his gavel. “I think  _ Animal _ is the most flirty number we have prepared, so Kurt, Blaine, you two are in charge of helping make it  _ sexy _ . All in favor?” 

Hands shot up around the room, showing support for the idea. Kurt’s was not one of them, but he shrugged and accepted the counsel’s decision. Blaine caught his eye and smiled. Kurt managed to smile back at him, but he had no idea what he was going to do next.

The gavel hit the desk with a loud bang. “It is decided,” Wes announced. “Kurt, Blaine, the rest of us will take a half hour break while you two decide how we should adjust the number. When we get back, you’ll teach it to us, ok?”

Within a few minutes Kurt and Blaine were left alone in the room. Kurt looked over at Blaine, who was watching him expectantly. Kurt sat silently, his hands folded in his lap and staring at his knees. 

“I have no idea what to suggest,” he confessed.

“Well, you’re the one who did a, quote, lengthy, routine,” Blaine raised his fingers to make air quotes. “And you won nationals with it, right?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have to create that choreography,” Kurt explained, finally daring to make (and hold) eye contact. This had the potential to go really, really badly. “And the kinds of moves that most of those girls were doing were, um, I can’t see blazer-wearing prep-school boys doing them.”

“Hey, I can shake my hips!” Blaine blurted excitedly, popping his hip out and jiggling a bit.

Kurt was proud of how well he repressed his giggle. Um, no, Blaine was not understanding the problem at all. And while his little hip wiggles were sort of adorable, Kurt knew they weren’t the kind of thing that would blow away any judge on earth. This would require some demonstration. 

Kurt kept his eye contact with Blaine as he rose to his feet and slowly rotated his hips in a full, wide circle. He pursed his lips and increased his speed, completing two more circles before throwing in a pair of pelvic rocks for good measure. He finished with the high kick that had always impressed even Coach Sylvester. Then he put his hands on his hips, still staring at Blaine, and waited for him to react.

Blaine’s eyes were huge and his mouth opened and shut several times without managing to make any words. “No wonder your coach liked you,” he finally sputtered.

Kurt made a mental note that perhaps he’d been approaching Blaine all wrong all this time. He smiled ever so slightly. “The Warblers can’t do that,” he repeated softly, shrugging as he plopped back onto the couch. “The Warblers can’t do cheerleading moves, and that’s all I really know how to do, so I don’t know what we’re going to come up with for choreography for this song.” 

Blaine’s eyes were still bulging a little, but he managed to make words this time instead of repeating his goldfish impression. “Well, what if we just encourage everyone to be sexy in whatever way comes naturally to them, because I can’t do what you just did, but it definitely looked good when you did it.” 

Kurt had to look away, he could feel his ears and neck getting hot, and he couldn’t hide a blush with his complexion. He really needed to redirect this conversation and quickly… He stared out the window and saw a couple of guys kicking a ball around on the field. 

“How about props?” he suggested. “Um, the New Directions did a performance with suspenders and bowler hats once, and it kind of started a sex riot...” Kurt tried to sound nonchalant when he said it. This whole being sexy thing was complicated, but he knew he’d pulled it off in performances at McKinley, and if he could just stop feeling so awkward around Blaine he was sure he could do it here too. Wes had said he wanted them to sing lead together since they were doing the choreography, so Kurt was going to have to find a way to be sexy--to flirt--with Blaine in front of an audience. He took a deep breath.

“They did what?” 

Kurt slowly turned back from the window, making sure he had Blaine’s gaze before he brazenly winked. “It was Britney Spears too. You would have loved it.”

Blaine swallowed. “I bet I would have.” He was watching Kurt curiously, but he didn’t move or say anything else. 

Kurt allowed himself a moment--just one beautiful moment--of believing that Blaine might be looking at him  that way for real, and then he got back to the task at hand. “Anyway, I don’t know what props we might have access to, but--”

“Thad has access to a bubble machine,” Blaine blurted.

“Perfect! We’ll use that!”

* * * * *

It was the first time Kurt had dueted with Blaine since  _ Baby It’s Cold Outside , _ but everything was so different since then. The flirting had come easily, naturally, on that December night with no one else watching. But today there was an audience, and Kurt was not relaxed at all. The Warblers had kept the original choreography for part of the song, and that part was no problem. But then they were doing their “freestyle flirting” in other parts, and trying to be sexy for an audience but without set choreography made Kurt feel a little out of his depth. He kept glancing around the room at the other guys, but most of what they did just...it wasn’t him. Worst of all, every time he caught Blaine’s eye he got a little flustered, so he tried to avoid doing that very often. 

In spite of all Kurt’s nerves, the performance seemed to go pretty well. The girls from Crawford Country Day yelled and screamed and tried to give their phone numbers to the boys. (Kurt may have smirked a little when he saw Blaine handing papers back to them and asserting that he didn’t play for their team.)

His mood shifted drastically when Blaine approached him a few moments later. 

“Are you ok?” he asked gently. 

Kurt looked at him in confusion. “What?”

“Um,” Blaine looked like he felt really awkward. “You kept making those weird faces while we sang…it looked like maybe you had gas pains or something.”

Kurt felt the heat rise in his neck, ears, and cheeks. He knew he was bright red’s face flushed red. With one sentence from Blaine he had gone from confident to shattered. “Those were my sexy faces…” he murmured. 

Blaine stared at him.

Kurt sighed forlornly. “Great. How are we supposed to get up on the stage at regionals and sell sexy to the judges when I have as much sexual appeal and knowledge as…” he sighed again. “As a baby penguin.”

Blaine looked at him sympathetically. Kurt wanted to curl up in a ball somewhere and hide for at least six years. It was humiliating to discover that apparently his soulmate didn’t find him sexy after all, but to top it off, Blaine was trying to be all sweet and helpful about it. 

Kurt kind of wanted to die when Blaine said “we’ll figure something out.” He stared at the floor and nodded almost imperceptibly. 

* * * * *

The next afternoon Kurt was sitting next to Blaine on the side of his bed. They were supposed to be practicing sexy faces. Taking lessons in sexy face-making from your soulmate is awkward at best, but Kurt was additionally distracted by the fact that all he could think about was the last time that he and Blaine had been here, when Blaine had spent the night with him. In his bed. Cuddled up to him.

“How about flirty?”

Kurt tried to remember what had come so naturally that night in the commons when they sang together, or what he had done the other day when Blaine had seemed so affected. He raised his eyebrows, bit his lip, and tipped his head.

Blaine’s expression didn’t change. “Ok so give me...sensual. But don’t make fun of it. Really try.”

Kurt nodded, determined to make this work. He lifted his chin, pursing his lips out and squinting slightly. He refused to look down at the edge of the bed where his fingers were mere inches away from Blaine’s...no, he wasn’t thinking about that. Wasn’t thinking about it...

“Ok now give me sultry…”

Kurt stretched his mouth out and wrinkled his nose. Somewhere in here there had to be something that would work. Something had worked before...what was it?! 

“Um, Kurt, they’re all sort of looking the same.”

Kurt felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He sprang up from the bed and practically flew to the foot of the bed (which was as far away as he could get in the tiny room). 

“It’s because the face I’m actually doing is uncomfortable!” he blurted. Uncomfortable, well, that was part of it. There were a lot of things he was feeling right now, but sure, uncomfortable. That would describe things well enough for now. Blaine was looking at him, serene and waiting, so Kurt took a deep breath and plunged onward.

“This is pointless Blaine, I don’t know how to be sexy because I don’t know the first thing about sex.” 

Kurt felt the heat rising through his face and, yeah, he was really getting sick of this blushing-in-front-of-Blaine thing. He tried to bluster onward to cover the awkwardness. “I mean, I’ve tried watching  _ those  _ movies, but I just get horribly depressed. And I think about how they were all kids once, and they all have mothers, and god what would their mothers think. And why would you get that tattoo there…” Suddenly Kurt realized he was rambling and he clamped his mouth shut.

“Maybe we should have a conversation about it,” Blaine held his hands out. “I’ll tell you what I know…”

If Kurt could have turned any redder he was sure he would have. He shook his head vehemently. If Kurt was ever going to feel comfortable discussing sex with someone, his soulmate certainly seemed like a good candidate. But right now? When Blaine didn’t know that they were soulmates? And in this context? No. Just no. He shook his head. “I don’t wanna know the graphic details--”

“You’re gonna have to learn about it someday,” Blaine pushed.

“Not today!” Kurt didn’t mean to yell it, but he had to be clear. This conversation was not happening here or now. “I think you should leave.”

Blaine watched him for a moment, but Kurt didn’t budge. So Blaine picked up his coat and left. 

As soon as he was gone, Kurt crumpled onto the floor and let the tears flow. He had held it together as long as Blaine was there, but now he couldn’t do it any longer. He buried his face in his hands, his body convulsing with silent sobs. His soulmate--the one person in the world that he wanted to be sexy for--didn’t find him sexy. He crawled onto the bed, squirmed under the blanket, and pulled a pillow over his head.

* * * * *

The next few days at Dalton were awkward. Kurt went to his classes (thankful that Blaine wasn’t in any of them). He used homework as an excuse to eat lunch alone, and he drove home almost every night. He still went to Warbler practice, but he didn’t hang out with Blaine afterward like he normally would have. He didn’t really have that much homework, but it was an excuse that Blaine always respected, and Kurt wasn’t sure how to tell him the truth. Not yet. He needed a little time.

* * * * *

Kurt jumped when Burt slapped some papers onto the counter in front of him.

“What are those?” he asked warily.

“Those are some pamphlets I picked up from the free clinic. I thought it might help the process along. Because it is time you and I had the talk.”

Kurt’s eyes got wide and he stepped back. What, did  _ everyone _ want to talk to him about sex this week? He was nowhere close to needing this information. “No it’s not!”

Burt’s grim look was clear even without his words. “Yes it is.”

Kurt turned away, putting his fingers in his ears and loudly singing “la la la la la laaaa!” as he tried to escape.

Burt grabbed his arms and marched him to the kitchen table. “Hey, you think this is easy for me? Believe me, I wanna do this even less than you do.” (Kurt almost had his doubts about that, but maybe Burt had a point.) “We’re gonna get through it together and we will both be better men for it.” 

Burt stared him down, so Kurt sat, folding his hands on the table in front of him and trying to look at his father at least a little bit. Burt stammered through something about reading the pamphlets and then coming to talk to him afterward (yeah right!) As uncomfortable as this was, Kurt had to admit he did appreciate at least having the pamphlets. He was pretty sure they would be less disturbing than the internet movies. And he appreciated his Dad’s efforts to provide this information for him. Even going to the free clinic to pick up pamphlets was a bit more than Kurt would have been up for right now.

He thought his dad was finishing up, and he started to get up but Burt stopped him.

“Hey, we’re just getting started!” Kurt sat back down, unsettled and unsure of what was coming next. 

Burt cleared his throat. “For most guys sex is just, ya know, it’s this thing we always wanna do. Ya know.” ( _ No, I really don’t know _ , Kurt thought.  _ I have no idea. That’s why we’re having this conversation, remember? _ ) “It’s fun,” Burt continued. “It feels great. But we’re not really thinkin’ too much about how it makes us feel on the inside. Or, ya know, how the other person feels about it.”

Kurt blinked at him a few times. This would probably be over sooner if he didn’t interrupt.

“When you’re intimate with somebody, in that way,” Burt continued, “You are...you’re exposing yourself.” Kurt looked at the table, feeling just as awkward as he had with Blaine a few days ago. Of course he knew his father better than anyone and he felt safe talking with him, but this topic of conversation… nobody was ever really comfortable with  _ the talk , _ were they?

“You’re never gonna be more vulnerable than in that situation,” Burt said. “And that scares the hell out of a lot of guys.”

“But that’s not going to happen to me, Dad,” Kurt said pointedly. “I’m not--”

“I know,” Burt smiled. “I know you’re not scared to love someone, to be open with someone. And that’s a beautiful thing about you. But you need to know that once you start doing this stuff you’re not going to want to stop. It’s just,” Burt broke off for a moment, searching for the words. “Kurt, you’ve gotta know that it means something. That it’s doing something to you, to your heart, to your self-esteem. Even though it feels like you’re just having fun.”

Kurt looked up at him.

“Son, when you’re ready, I want you to be able to...do everything.” He swallowed hard, and Kurt knew it wasn’t easy for him to get through this part. “But when you’re ready, Kurt, I want you to use it as a way to connect to another person.”

“Well, when I have my soulmate…”

Burt reached across the table and took his hand. “Not everyone ends up with their soulmate, Kurt, and that’s ok. I will love and support you with whoever you choose to be with. But until you find him, don’t throw yourself around like you don’t matter. Because you matter, Kurt.”

There was a moment of silence as they stared at one another. The sincerity of Burt’s words sank into Kurt like rain into dry soil, and he was grateful for it. For all of it.

“Thank you, Dad.”

Burt cracked an awkward grin. “You’re welcome.”

* * * * *

“Blaine?”

The dark-haired boy’s head snapped up. “Kurt?”

Kurt nodded to the seat next to him. “Can I eat with you?”

Blaine nodded. “Of course.” He watched for a minute as Kurt settled in by him at the lunch table. “Are you ok? You’ve seemed kind of...overwhelmed lately.”

Kurt took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I owe you an apology, actually.”

“For what?” Blaine looked genuinely surprised.

“I’ve been brushing you off, and you didn’t deserve it. I know you just wanted to help. I just…” Kurt gulped. “I was uncomfortable about our last conversation, and I--”

“No, Kurt, I’m sorry,” Blaine interrupted, putting his hand on Kurt’s shoulder. “It wasn’t my place, I shouldn’t have pushed you. I--”

“Blaine.”

“Yeah?”

“I was uncomfortable and I was frustrated, and I took it out on you. And I’m sorry. Because that wasn’t fair. Our friendship matters to me, Blaine. I don’t want to--” Kurt took a breath and caught Blaine’s gaze. “ _ You _ matter to me.”

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him into a hug. “You matter to me too, Kurt.”


	11. Blaine - There Is A Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x16 “Original Song”  
> Obviously, since we’re canon-compliant here, you know some of what is going to happen in this chapter. I hope that the AU twists are still enough to keep you entertained! Among other things, I spent a little time explaining why Blaine picked “Candles” to sing with Kurt. I’ve never really liked that choice since it’s a song about breaking-up… but I tried to give it some justification here. So hopefully you’ll like that.  
> FYI, I had to go back and rewatch certain parts of the episode a whole bunch of times to get into the right headspace to write this for you. I sure hope you appreciate my, uh, sacrifice. :)  
> As a reminder, I take some artistic liberty with canon dialogue. Yes even THAT scene. But I think you’ll still like it.

In spite of all Blaine’s efforts to keep things platonic with Kurt--to wait for his own mark and to respect the mark that Blaine knew Kurt had--it didn’t work. Week by week they spent ever more time together, and day by day Blaine found it harder to keep emotionally distant.

On the day Kurt called him out for having all the solos, Blaine was surprised, but also so, so turned on. No other Warbler had ever told him off like that, and the gumption it must have taken to do so, well, it was hot! Blaine had always respected Kurt’s opinions about things, but he also genuinely appreciated his honesty, and he was tired of acting like Kurt wasn’t something special to him.

On the day Kurt stood in front of the Warblers and sang _Blackbird_ it was the final straw for Blaine. He was tired of waiting. He was tired of avoiding dating the person that he most wanted to date. He made up his mind that he was going to take the leap, and let come what may.

* * * * *

It had taken Blaine five months of alternately pining after Kurt and avoiding him before he had been able to make up his mind to just go for it. Ironically, that drawn-out decision was the easy part.

Blaine feared he had sort of painted himself into a corner with all of his careful aloofness. After all, if Kurt liked him back, he surely wouldn’t have dared to be so snippy with him, would he? Would a guy with a crush be able to corral the sass to throw “Blaine and the Pips” at him? Maybe: Kurt didn’t show it often at Dalton, but Blaine could tell he was gifted when it came to sass. On the other hand, Kurt had a soulmate, so why should he foster anything besides friendship with someone like Blaine?

Blaine knew that Kurt was a romantic. He knew that some people weren’t interested in dating anyone except their soulmate. He knew there was a perfectly good chance that Kurt would completely shut him down. But he had to ask. He had to try. He just had to.

What he needed was a plan. An excuse to spend time with Kurt--alone with him--so that he could talk with him… Blaine only needed a few minutes to come up with an idea. Now he just had to get the Warblers on board.

* * * * *

“I want to sing a duet, with Kurt.”

Warbler heads around the room nodded without hesitation. That had been so much easier than Blaine had imagined!

Kurt seemed surprised, and Blaine smiled at him and applauded with everyone else, trying to act like it wasn’t a huge thing for him too. He _did_ legitimately believe that shaking things up for Regionals was a good strategy, and clearly all the Warblers agreed that Kurt’s voice was worth featuring. But specifically requesting a duet? Well, that had been a completely selfish move on Blaine’s part and he knew it.

As Kurt’s grin widened, Blaine was hit with a realization: now he had to pick a song. Suddenly he felt overwhelmed. The plan that had seemed brilliant yesterday and had been going so well two minutes ago was suddenly biting him back.

_What song, Blaine? What song can you pick that A) could help us win the competition, and B) can help you make your feelings clear to Kurt?_

Blaine knew that the Warblers--including Kurt--were all counting on him to be focused on reason A, but Blaine himself--in one incredibly distracting moment--realized he actually cared more about reason B.

Blaine was so whipped it wasn’t even funny. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He could do this. He wouldn’t let down his team. There had to be a song that would work. There just had to be.

* * * * *

It was two more days before Blaine found a song that felt workable. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing was perfect enough to sing with Kurt. And with literally days left until the competition, Blaine couldn’t devote any more time to searching. He had to just go for it. He found some sheet music he could print out while listening to the song on youtube one more time. It was good enough. There might not be a song that expressed exactly the hopes and feelings that Blaine wanted to share with Kurt, but this one was… Well it was gentle, and passionate, and there was that part that said “ _I’m beginning to see the light ._ ” That line had been on repeat in his head all day.

Blaine stood up, adjusting his blazer before he grabbed the pages off his printer and went looking for Kurt.

He found him in a quiet room, with bits and sparkles and glue strewn across a table top.

“What’s that?”

Kurt didn’t even glance up. “I’m decorating Pavarotti's casket.”

Blaine cleared his throat. “Well finish up. I have the perfect song for our number and we should practice.” He waved the pages before setting them on the table.

“Do tell.” Kurt was looking at him now, and oh, those eyes. Blaine had to breathe slowly through his nose for a moment to keep his brain from imploding at what he was hoping to say to Kurt in three, two, one...

“ _Candles_ , by Hey Monday,” he managed to get out.

“I’m impressed. You’re usually so top 40.” Kurt smiled and leaned back in his chair. He did seem genuinely pleased with the selection, and Blaine breathed a little sigh of relief

“Well, I just wanted something a little more… emotional,” he tried to explain. He settled himself into a chair next to Kurt’s. “You’re so good with emotional performances, and I know this is a song about romance--”

“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable to sing it with you,” Kurt murmured, still looking at him. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I, uh--” Blaine licked his lips and swallowed, trying desperately to think of three words that he could string together into a coherent sentence. But in spite of all his planning, now that he was here he wasn’t sure what to say.

Kurt seemed to sense that Blaine was feeling anxious about something. ( _Of course he did, best friends notice things like that .)_

“Blaine, why did you pick me to sing that song with? You’re not nervous about making a change to the setlist so close to the competition, are you?”

Kurt was staring at him intently, just waiting, and Blaine knew this was his moment. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth, but the words didn’t come for several awkward moments. “Kurt,” he finally managed, not able to look him in the eye yet. “There is a moment when you say to yourself oh, there you are.” He finally looked Kurt in the eye. “I’ve been looking for you forever.”

Blaine shifted in his seat, moving marginally closer to Kurt, and awkwardly stretching his hand across his on the table top. Kurt inhaled sharply at the contact, and he glanced down briefly before meeting Blaine’s gaze again.

“There are a lot of things I don’t know yet, but there is one thing I do know, and that is that while watching you do _Blackbird_ this week, that was a moment for me. About you.”

Kurt blinked rapidly several times, but he didn’t move his hand out of Blaine’s grasp, and he didn’t seem to be freaking out, so Blaine plunged ahead.

“You move me, Kurt. I want to be with you, and this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you.”

Blaine watched Kurt carefully, looking for a response. Kurt’s eyes were wide and dark, but he wasn’t looking away. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, not unlike Blaine’s own. Kurt’s mouth fell open, and Blaine couldn’t look at anything else.

Blaine could feel his pulse thrumming in his ears as he slowly leaned forward, hoping that he was reading Kurt correctly, that Kurt wanted to do this too.

In the moment that their lips met, he knew he did.

Kurt’s lips were unimaginably soft, tasting vaguely of coffee and peppermint, with a hint of something that Blaine instinctively knew was just Kurt. He smelled of soap and fabric softener with an overlay of hairspray, and Blaine had never smelled anything so perfect. He gently stroked his thumb down Kurt’s cheek. He had imagined kissing Kurt so many times, but no amount of imagining came anywhere close to the real thing. He felt Kurt’s hand on his face, and melted.

Kurt was pushing into him now, crowding closer and chasing the kiss and making it linger just a little longer. Blaine may have initiated this, but between the warmth flooding his belly, the tingles in his fingers and toes, and the fact that his brain had just gone completely, totally, blank...Blaine knew he was in over his head.

But he also knew that he had been telling the truth when he said he’d been looking for this forever, so he just let himself fall.

Far too quickly the kiss ended. Kurt looked a little dazed, but in the best way, and Blaine felt like he might float away at any moment if he didn’t grab onto something. He glanced through his lashes at Kurt.

“We should practice,” he murmured in a halfhearted attempt at responsibility.

Kurt’s voice was high and breathless when he replied with a twinkle in his eye, “I thought we were.” Then he pulled Blaine close again.

* * * * *

Their first kiss (the first kiss that counted for either of them, as well as being their first kiss with each other) was tender, soft, and affectionate.

Their second kiss was a little more confident.

Their third kiss pushed the boundaries into ‘hungry’ and ‘needy.’

The seventh, sixteenth, and forty-eighth kisses were...well...suffice it to say that practice makes perfect.

They didn’t get any singing practice done until after dinner, at which point they ran through the song four times, decided it was perfect, and adjourned to Kurt’s room to get back to not singing.

* * * * *

The next morning at breakfast Blaine grinned as Kurt slid into the seat next to him.

“Good morning, Kurt.”

“Good morning.” They shared a smile, and Kurt hurriedly looked back at his plate. Wes and Nick were sitting right across from them and Blaine realized that with all of their practicing yesterday they hadn’t actually talked about what they were going to tell people or when. Blaine was suddenly nervous that Kurt might want to keep it all a secret. Blaine had to admit to himself that he could understand if Kurt didn’t want to tell the world that he was dating his non-soulmate. That wasn’t really something to announce. Or maybe he didn’t even see it as really dating? As much as Blaine tried to avoid thinking about it, he knew that, for Kurt, all this could just a way to avoid loneliness until his real soulmate came along.

Blaine ripped a huge bite out of his toast in frustration and chewed it intensely. This was complicated. He had been so excited about getting together with Kurt that obviously he hadn’t thought about some of these details. He stared at his fork thoughtfully and then swallowed hard.

“How is the duet arrangement coming?” Wes asked, all business as usual. “Blaine said he found a song, have you been able to practice yet? It would be good if we could all go over it at Warbler rehearsal this afternoon. Regionals is only a week away so we don’t have long.”

Kurt’s ears turned red as he shoved some scrambled eggs into his mouth.

Blaine cleared his throat. “Ah, um, we practiced for a while yesterday.”

Kurt almost choked and Nick looked at him in concern as Blaine thumped him on the back in an attempt at normalcy. “You ok, Kurt?”

Kurt nodded energetically and motioned with his hand for them to keep going as he reached for his orange juice.

“Anyway, it’s coming together,” Blaine continued, his eyes darting back and forth between Kurt and the others. “But we will run it a couple more times before rehearsal today just to make sure.”

“Good, good,” Wes was nodding as he sopped up the maximum possible amount of syrup with his last bit of pancake. “That song isn’t our typical style, but I trust you Blaine, if you think it’s a good fit for your voices then--” he shrugged.

Kurt smiled at him, a little wide and strained. “It, uh, I think it’s sounding pretty good.”

“Well, practice until it’s perfect, not just ‘pretty good,’” Wes said with a teasing wink. I know the McKinley team are your friends, but they tied with us last time so we have to be cutthroat this time. No taking it easy on them or anything.” He raised his eyebrows at Kurt and looked at him sternly for all of two seconds before it melted into a fond smile again.

“Oh trust me,” Kurt replied seriously. “I really want to win.”

“That’s the spirit!” Wes clapped him on the back as he picked up his dishes. “See you guys this afternoon!”

* * * * *

“They’re all going to figure it out within five minutes of watching us if they haven’t already,” Kurt hissed to Blaine when he caught up to him in the hall later that day. “We clearly suck at playing it casual, so we’re going to have to say something.”

Blaine was relieved.

Kurt rambled right on. “I mean, I know it’s just since yesterday, but I really don’t want to pretend that we’re not together when we are.”

“Uh, in case you weren’t aware,” Blaine murmured, leaning so close to Kurt’s ear that he had to bite his lip to keep himself from kissing it. “At least half of the guys already thought we were together.”

Kurt looked at him, wide-eyed and apparently aghast. “Are you serious?”

Blaine nodded solemnly. “I swear.”

“Why?”

“I guess because we are always together? I mean Trent is an awesome roommate, and you know he’s never seen us do anything more intimate than sit side by side doing homework, but even he wolf whistles or winks at me when I say I’m going to your room.”

“He doesn’t!” Kurt had grabbed Blaine’s hand and was squeezing it. Blaine loved it.

“I’ve told him a hundred times that we were just friends, but he always just says ‘uh-huh,’ and winks again.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and groaned. “Ok, well, I’m going to call my dad before tonight’s rehearsal then. Once he knows, I’m fine with anyone else knowing.”

“Yeah?” Blaine

“Yeah.” Kurt tilted his head and looked at him curiously. “Wait, did you not--”

“I want to stand on the lunchroom table and tell everyone,” Blaine replied. “I just didn’t know if you--”

“I don’t want to keep it secret,” Kurt repeated. “Why would I?”

“Um,” Blaine wasn’t about to tell Kurt that he knew about the soulmate mark. Not today. That could come later. “I just, I don’t know, it’s so new… sometimes people like to wait?”

Kurt shrugged again. “We’re together now. Why would it matter if we told people today or a month from now?”

“I don’t--”

Kurt cut him off with a finger to Blaine’s mouth, then glanced down the hall both ways to check that they were alone before leaning in and kissing him softly. “I like being able to do that,” he murmured. “And that,” he added looking at their joined hands and squeezing softly. “Back at McKinley I would probably have to hide it, but I don’t want to hide it here where I don’t have to.”

Blaine felt like he had melted all over again. “Ok.”

“So we can tell the Warblers tonight at rehearsal.”

“You mean we can confirm the rumors?”

Kurt jabbed his elbow into Blaine’s rib. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he announced primly, then strutted down the hall with only a single flirty glance back over his shoulder.

 _Yep_ , Blaine thought. _It doesn’t matter how brief this has to be. It’s worth every second._

* * * * *

Their performance at Regionals went smoothly, and Blaine was nearly bursting with pride when he pulled Kurt into the spotlight for a solo bow after their number. They had killed it, just as he had assured Kurt that they would. Kurt had been a panicky wreck backstage, but the moment he opened his mouth and began singing there was no sign of his nerves. Blaine tried to focus on performing, but honestly all he wanted to do was hold Kurt’s hand and kiss him all over his face. The way the stage lights caught his eyes was breathtaking, and from the way Kurt was looking back at him Blaine could only assume that the lights were doing him the same favor.

Their time on stage passed quickly, and before he knew it Blaine was settling into an auditorium seat next to Kurt to watch the New Directions perform.

“My god,” Kurt whispered to him. “They’re doing original songs!”

Blaine watched him be completely wrapped-up in watching his friends. Blaine knew that it had been hard for Kurt to leave behind his friends and his team. The decision to come to Dalton had been an obvious one for him, but also bittersweet. Sitting there in the near-dark Blaine realized something that he hadn’t before: Kurt was going to go back. He wasn’t sure when, or how (since safety was a genuine concern), but Blaine knew without question that Kurt was going to go back to them.

Back to them, and away from Blaine.

By the time Kurt leapt to his feet to scream and cheer for the New Directions Blaine wasn’t surprised. He took a deep breath and stood up next to him. Kurt may not consciously realize it yet, but Blaine could see where Kurt’s heart was. He pressed his lips into a tight smile and applauded with everyone else. _It’s worth it._ He reminded himself. _He is worth it. It’s going to hurt like crazy when it has to end, but it's still worth it._

Blaine made a personal resolution then and there that he would enjoy what he had with Kurt for as long as he could have it. So that when it was over, he wouldn’t have regrets.

* * * * *

Blaine honestly didn’t even care that they didn’t win. Winning would have been awesome, of course, but Blaine was so high on the endorphins of his new relationship that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“I just really, really wanted to win,” Kurt sighed as they stared down at Pavarotti's tiny grave.

“You did win,” Blaine murmured hopefully. “So did I,” he added with more confidence. “We got each other out of all this…” He looked at Kurt, and Kurt looked back, meeting his gaze tenderly. “That beats a lousy trophy, don’t you think?”

Blaine held out his hand, and Kurt took it. Blaine knew that none of this was what Kurt wanted in the long run--a second place finish or a temporary boyfriend. But he was going to do his best to make them both as good as he could for as long as he was able.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA, you were all expecting that he’d get his mark this time, weren’t you! Nope. They are together, but the story isn’t quite over yet!


	12. Kurt - Never Say Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has content from 2x16 “Original Song,” 2x17 “Night of Neglect,” and 2x18 “Born This Way,” as well as several references to earlier events.
> 
> I guess I should probably also add the disclaimer/warning that this fic does not have a beta. I do review/proofread a couple of times on each chapter, but I know I miss the occasional typo, so my apologies for that. I didn't have a beta for the original one-shot, and I just kind of never got one...

Coming to Dalton was supposed to make everything better for Kurt. He was safe from Karofsky, nobody was throwing slushies at him, he had somewhere to sing, and he got to see his soulmate every day. 

His soulmate who had no idea that he was his soulmate.

Still, everything should have been better than it had been at McKinley, but it wasn’t. The Warblers (and all his other classmates) accepted him, and no one bullied him...but he was expected to blend in. Even Blaine had told him that he shouldn’t let himself stand out so much; that his individuality was a problem rather than something to be proud of.

Kurt didn’t regret coming to Dalton, or being a Warbler, or being best friends with Blaine… but there were days when he really, really missed McKinley and his friends there. They had accepted him as he was, without asking him to change. Sure, he’d argued with most of them at some point, but when it came down to it none of them had ever asked him to stop being himself. 

Ironically, (or maybe not), it was that silly little canary who was giving Kurt the most comfort lately. Pavarotti never cared who was listening when he sang. He didn’t care whether they approved of his voice, or his song choice. He simply sang in his own way. Kurt had never had a pet--he’d never wanted one either--but he had gotten quite attached to the little yellow bird who sang to him every day. Pavarotti was his friend, but he was also his inspiration.

On the day Pavarotti died, Kurt felt like a little piece of himself died as well.

* * * * *

Kurt had never imagined that his  _ Blackbird _ rendition would affect Blaine the way it did. He certainly hadn’t planned it. He was genuinely upset over Pavarotti’s death and needed to let it out. After months of watching Pavarotti sing what he wanted and when he wanted, Kurt just decided to throw caution to the wind and do the same. The act honored Pavarotti just as much as the actual song did. 

_ Take these broken wings and learn to fly. _

Kurt had been feeling broken, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from flying. Even in this place of peace and acceptance, he hadn’t been taken seriously when he’d auditioned for a solo, and he was left swaying in the background just as he always had with the New Directions. The difference was that now he felt like an outsider instead of being a founding member. 

_ Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. _

Kurt was tired of being an outsider, or a nobody. His father had always told him that he was someone special, and he had always believed it. He  did believe it. But nobody else seemed to see him the way he saw himself. Even months of friendship with Blaine had led exactly nowhere. His own soulmate didn’t notice him as anything more than a friend, and Kurt was discouraged. What was the point?

_ You were only waiting for this moment to arrive. _

Kurt was done waiting. He wasn’t sure what he was going to  _ do _ , exactly. But he was tired of waiting for life to happen to him; he was determined to make it into what he wanted it to be. 

On the day Kurt interrupted a Warbler meeting to sing about his feelings in front of a crowd, he felt more like a member of New Directions than a Warbler. And it felt good. 

On that day, some little part of him knew that he would be going back.

* * * * *

When Blaine kissed him, Kurt’s brain short-circuited. He had already been excited about getting to duet at Regionals, and he knew that his impromptu performance of  _ Blackbird _ had probably contributed to that opportunity. But he hadn’t realized quite how direct the contribution had been!

Blaine’s change of heart seemed so sudden, but Kurt wasn’t going to ask too many questions. Not when things were finally going the way they were supposed to. A week ago he had not imagined that things could turn around so quickly, but now he was soloing in a competition and dating a cute boy (a cute boy who happened to be his soulmate!). On performance day, when Kurt looked across the stage at Blaine, and saw Blaine gazing back at him, he believed that everything finally was coming up Kurt.

* * * * *

They didn’t win Regionals. Blaine tried to tell him that it was ok, and Kurt smiled, but he really didn’t feel ok about it. He knew there would be one more year of competitions before he graduated, but this year Nationals was  New York and he really wanted to be going there with his McKinley friends. He was jealous and he couldn’t deny it.

Still, he had his soulmate. Not everyone found their soulmate, and Kurt knew he was lucky to have not only found Blaine but to be  with  him when they were both still in high school. The months of waiting had been hard, and there had been at least a dozen times when Kurt had second-guessed his decision to wait for Blaine to get his mark too. Kurt had been hopeful that Blaine would choose him of course, but he wouldn’t--couldn’t--pressure him about it. For his entire life Kurt had listened to his father talk about self-determination, and following your heart, and ‘fate’ being just another four-letter word. Kurt would never push someone into a relationship. But now Blaine had made the first move. Finally, he knew too!

* * * * *

“So, wait, you’re doing what?” Kurt adjusted the phone on his ear as he straightened his tie and checked his hair in the mirror one last time before heading to class.

“A night of neglect,” Mercedes repeated. “We’re performing songs from neglected artists as a way to raise money for the glee club. Plane tickets to New York are so expensive.”

“Of course I’ll be there,” Kurt assured her. 

“And you’ll bring your boy?” she urged.

“Yes, I’ll bring Blaine,” he laughed. “It should be a fun date night.”

“Good. I know we’ve all met him before, but now it’s official, so we need to meet him again. Decide if we approve, you know.”

Kurt snorted. “You do realize that I don’t actually care if any of you approve or not?” He straightened his blazer and picked up his satchel as she giggled.

“Yeah, but we are just happy for you. I’m happy for you, Kurt.”

He smiled, and she seemed to know.

“Be a little early, ok? We’re expecting a pretty full house.”

“Like I’m ever late to anything, Mercedes!” he retorted. “Speaking of which, I really have to go to class, like right now.”

“See you tomorrow!” she sang as he hit the ‘end’ button.

“I miss you too, Mercedes,” he whispered as he switched the phone to silent mode and tucked it into his pocket.

* * * * *

When Kurt had brought Blaine to the McKinley football game a few months ago, Kurt had seen him as a friend, a companion, and possibly somewhat of a protector. Watching his bullies on the field (dancing with his friends, no less) had been unsettling, but he’d had the buffer of the crowd between them, and with Blaine by his side he felt a little bit safer.

When Kurt brought Blaine to McKinley for the Night of Neglect performances he brought him as a boyfriend, and it was completely different. Running into Karofsky in the hall definitely raised his blood pressure for a little while, but not the way that it used to. He had Blaine unequivocally on his side, and now apparently he had Santana too. (She might be an unexpected ally, but she was a valuable one and Kurt wasn’t going to ask too many questions.) 

Something had changed at the last minute and the anticipated full house had turned into less than a dozen people. Kurt knew how discouraging it was to perform for a small or apathetic audience, so he was prepared to cheer extra to make up for it. These were his friends! And even though he was jealous that they were going to New York without him, he was going to help however he could.

Kurt and Blaine settled into their seats in the McKinley auditorium with ten minutes to go before the show was supposed to begin. 

“There’s no program,” Blaine whispered. “Or did I just miss it?”

“They probably couldn’t make a program because they are--at this moment--still arguing about some of the song selections,” Kurt informed him, chuckling at the shocked expression on Blaine’s face. “Don’t worry, last year at sectionals our competition ended up singing the songs we had planned, so we came up with a new setlist literally during intermission.”

“You’re joking!”

Kurt shook his head. “Nope. I mean Rachel sang a ballad she’s been performing since she was a kid, but the group number, yeah, we pulled it together in about thirty minutes.”

“And you won.”

“Yeah,” Kurt grinned. “We won.”

“It’s no wonder they’re going to Nationals,” Blaine breathed. “The Warblers never really had a chance against that.”

“Hey,” Kurt grabbed his hand and squeezed. “We were good. We were really good.”

“Maybe we should have stuck with what we had before, instead of taking the chance on changing things last minute,” Blaine continued as if he hadn’t even heard Kurt. “We had something solid, and good. Taking risks is just…” he broke off as he looked up and met Kurt’s eyes. 

“There was nothing wrong with what we sang, Blaine. They had original songs. They were just better.” He shrugged and then squeezed Blaine’s hands again. “I’m glad you took the risk on singing with me instead of alone. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

“I’m glad I took a risk on you too,” Blaine whispered. “Not just with the song, but on  _ you _ . On  _ us _ .”

“Wait, what?” Kurt was confused.

“I don’t have your name, Kurt,” Blaine explained, thrusting his wrist out in the half-dark. “I don’t have any mark at all. I just, I liked you for so long, and I finally decided to take a chance on being with you anyway. They say that sometimes marks will come after… Not that I expected... I mean…”

“Blaine!” Kurt tried to stop his nervous rambling. But if Blaine didn’t have his mark after all then Kurt was back to ‘don’t pressure him’ mode, which meant not showing Blaine his own mark. He would let this thing run its course. Probably Blaine would get his mark soon, but whether he did or not he would still have his choice of what to do about it. They had only been together for a couple of weeks. Anything could still happen.

“Anyway, I don’t know how long it’s supposed to take, and obviously there’s no guarantee about…”

“Blaine!” Kurt repeated. “I--” he broke off, unsure of what to say, and was rescued by the lights going out and the band starting. They both turned their attention to the stage where Tina was stepping into the spotlight.

Then and there, Kurt resolved that he was going to find ways to help Blaine feel more secure about their relationship. He would not come out and tell him everything, of course, but he could drop hints and give him reassurances that he was never planning to leave him. It was the least he could do.

* * * * *

When it came down to it, the decision to return to McKinley was easy. The moment he was convinced that Karofsky was no longer a threat, Kurt eagerly agreed to go back home.

It was harder for Blaine.

“I feel like I only just got you, and now you’re leaving…” Blaine said softly from Kurt’s desk chair as he watched his boyfriend pack.

“I’m not leaving you,” Kurt assured him as he folded a pair of pants and set them carefully in his suitcase. “I’m transferring schools. We’ll still have weekends, just like we did before I came to Dalton.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Blaine murmured, coming up behind him and setting his hands on Kurt’s shoulders before letting them slide down his arms.

Kurt caught Blaine’s fingers between his own and turned around, gently pressing a kiss to his lips. “I’m going to miss you too. But it’s better this way. I’ll be with my dad, and I won’t have to worry about him as much…”

“You’ll be going to New York with your glee club,” Blaine said miserably. 

“Yes, I expect I will.”

Blaine met his gaze, eyes wide and wet. “Tell me that’s not why you’re going though?”

“That’s not why I’m going Blaine,” Kurt told him with another kiss. “It’s a nice perk, I won’t deny that. But I came to Dalton because I wasn’t safe at McKinley. And now McKinley is safe again, so I’m going back. I can’t afford…” he trailed off. The cost of Dalton tuition had definitely been hard for his family, but he didn’t want to make this about money.

Blaine nodded, wrapping his arms around Kurt and holding him close. “I guess I knew you couldn’t stay forever. I just wish you didn’t have to go right now. I know your life is there. I just…”

“I never really said goodbye to them,” Kurt murmured, rubbing his hand fiercely back and forth on Blaine’s back. “I have loved being here with you, and Dalton has been good for me, but deep inside I’ve always been part of the New Directions. I was always going to end up back there.”

“Yeah, I guess I always knew that.”

“Hey,” Kurt backed up and set his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, waiting until Blaine looked him square in the face. “This is not a goodbye, Blaine. You’re my boyfriend. You’re my so-weetheart,” he caught himself just in time. “You are just as important to me as they are. Leaving Dalton doesn’t mean that I’m leaving you. I’ll see you this weekend, ok?”

Blaine blinked quickly and wiped at his face with his hand. “Ok.”

* * * * *

Kurt had expected his friends to all come out to meet him when he arrived at McKinley. (Mercedes had told him she had a surprise for him and to come to the courtyard before anywhere else, so he knew something was going on.) He had not expected Blaine to show up with a dozen Warblers in tow to serenade him in front of half of the student body.

Maybe he should have expected it--after Valentine’s Day especially--but Blaine was better at keeping secrets than Mercedes, and Kurt had been distracted with moving, and he hadn’t suspected a thing.

Blaine looked heartbroken as he sang, and Kurt realized that he was going to have to keep reassuring him that he didn’t plan to break up over this. As the song ended he grabbed Blaine, pulled him close and whispered in his ear. 

“I’m never saying goodbye to you.”

Blaine squeezed him tightly, and Kurt held on to him as though he were the most important thing in the world to him.


	13. Blaine - Marks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter occurs during 2x18 “Born This Way,” 2x20 “Prom Queen,” and 2x22 “New York”
> 
> Thanks to [hkvoyge](hkvoyage.tumblr.com) for beta-reading this one for me to make sure that it all made sense.

People said it was brave to take a chance on a serious relationship with someone when you didn’t have your marks yet. For Blaine, that hadn’t seemed nearly as important as the fact that he just wanted to be with Kurt. Now that they were together, though, he couldn’t help thinking about it all the time.

_What if Kurt is my soulmate? That would be amazing!_

Then rational thought returned. _Kurt has a soulmate mark. It can’t be me or he would have told me. So what will happen when his soulmate shows up? He will almost certainly dump me… Or what if my mark shows up before then? Will we break up right away? Or wait until the other guys actually appear?_ Blaine’s thoughts were a downward spiral.

“Blaine!” Kurt’s voice cut through the haze of Blaine’s mind and he blinked a few times as he realized he was out having coffee with his boyfriend. “You’re staring into space and you have completely mangled that sugar packet…” Blaine looked down, grabbing a napkin and trying to wipe up the tiny granules that had spread everywhere.

“Sorry, I guess my mind was wandering…” he mumbled.

“Wandering where?” Kurt asked flirtatiously (making Blaine’s stomach swoop just a little).

“Just, I can’t believe this is your last day at Dalton. I’m really going to miss you when you transfer…”

“Blaine,” Kurt sighed. “I know we’ll see each other less, but it doesn’t mean we won’t see each other. You’re my best friend, you’re my boyfriend, and we’re going to figure it out.” Kurt’s hand slid across the table and he squeezed Blaine’s fingers for just a moment. “Look, I wasn’t sure how to tell you about this, because I know my transfer is really hard on you, but I’m doing a performance with the New Directions on Friday in the auditorium. You’d have to skip Warbler practice, but I would love for you to come. Then we could go on a date afterward. What do you think?”

“The Warblers don’t have rehearsal on Friday,” Blaine said absentmindedly.

“But we always…”

“The competition season is over, so now it’s just twice a week instead of every day.”

“Oh.” Kurt’s voice was soft.

Wes had announced the change a week ago, but Blaine realized that Kurt’s brain must have already been halfway back to McKinley by then and he hadn’t paid attention.

“Well,” Kurt continued, “so you wouldn’t even have to skip rehearsal. You’d have to leave immediately from class to get there in time, but I can stall them a little if I need to.” He winked. “There’s sort of a special surprise that I’d love for you to see.”

“Will you tell me what you’re singing?”

Kurt arched one eyebrow high. “What kind of a surprise would it be if I told you?!”

“I’ll come,” Blaine blurted. “Yes, I want to come. You said the auditorium?”

Kurt grinned. “Yes, the same one as where the Night of Neglect was last week.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Not that I would ever complain about spending time with you, but that night was a little over-hyped.”

Kurt feigned shock. “Blaine Anderson, I adore you, but if you ever say that my girl Mercedes is over-hyped I may never forgive you for it.”

Blaine laughed, open-mouthed and hard. It felt good to let a positive emotion flow through him all the way from his gut to his face. Within a few moments Kurt was tittering, and then he snorted on the inhale and fell into full-fledged laughter as well.

“Friday afternoon then?”

“Friday afternoon,” he confirmed.

* * * * *

Blaine hadn’t told Kurt about his plan to serenade him on the steps of McKinley’s courtyard. He’d called Finn to set it up and Finn had told him that it was a great idea, and oh by the way it was a good thing he wasn’t dumping Kurt over this transfer because otherwise he’d beat Blaine up or something. Blaine had swallowed hard and promised Finn that he would never give him a reason to beat him up, and Finn said that was good because he’d feel bad about throwing a punch at a guy who was so much smaller than himself. Blaine tried to take that as a compliment.

The truth was that Blaine had been wanting to serenade Kurt ever since they had gotten together, but with Regionals and midterms and then Kurt’s transfer there just hadn’t been an opportunity to set it up. Singing _Teenage Dream_ didn’t really count, Blaine reasoned. Yes, he had sort of sung to Kurt on that day, but it wasn’t the same at all. Kurt had been a stranger back then--a cute stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. Blaine had been in full performance mode, and if he’d thrown a wink at the cute boy, well, it hadn’t really meant anything. But Blaine felt like he owed Kurt a real, romantic, personal serenade. Especially after the Valentine’s debacle (which Kurt had never teased him about) it was only fair. Thankfully, the other Warblers agreed with that last point, and agreed to sing backup for Blaine, even when he informed them that it would be another off-campus performance.

“We can show the New Directions that Dalton men are classy even when they don’t win,” Wes said cheerfully.

“That’s totally not the point,” Nick replied. “The point is that loverboy here wants to sing to his boyfriend. And since we all think his boyfriend is a pretty good guy, we said we’d help. It’s not about where we sing.”

“Somewhere only we know?” Trent suggested with a grin.

“Shut up Trent!” Jeff yelled from across the room, throwing a pencil at him.

Blaine smiled, glad that he had good friends who would be there for him even after Kurt left.

* * * * *

The performance in the courtyard went well--maybe better than expected given that there were no step-touches and the Warblers tended to feel lost without predetermined choreography. Kurt had clearly been surprised, and touched. (Finn texted Blaine later to confirm the fact, and to thank him for coming, and remind him that he was glad that no beating-up had to happen.)

After the song, Kurt hugged Blaine as though he were holding on for dear life.

“I’m never saying goodbye to you,” he whispered with an extra squeeze.

Blaine squeezed back, and wished he could believe it.

* * * * *

When Blaine watched Kurt perform _Born This Way_ with the New Directions, he knew he was seeing him come home. Blaine had been pleased watching Kurt find his place among the Warblers, but seeing him here, this way… Kurt had never really belonged with the Warblers the way he obviously belonged with the New Directions. He was not a piece of a matched set; he was born to be one of a kind.

Blaine bit his lip and smiled to himself, watching Kurt sing and dance and own the stage even as he owned his identity more boldly than he ever had before. Blaine had known this Kurt was in there, but he hadn’t seen much of him at Dalton. This Kurt was the best Kurt, and Blaine adored him more than ever.

“So, did you like it?” Kurt asked breathlessly, having bounded down the stage stairs and straight to Blaine as soon as the song was finished. “We pulled it together kind of fast, but we always do… It was just the dance really, since of course I already knew the song.”

“Kurt--” Blaine started, but he didn’t know what to say, so he stopped.

“Did you like the opening?” Kurt babbled as he plopped into the chair next to Blaine, with one leg folded up under himself. “That part was my idea, but Mr. Schue doesn’t usually listen to me, so I got Santana to suggest it to him.” Kurt smirked. “He’s a little bit scared of her--though he’d never admit it--so he didn’t put up a fight.”

Blaine squinted at the stage, trying to pick out Santana. “I don’t see her up there…”

“No, she’s over there,” Kurt nodded toward the back of the auditorium. “With Karofsky.”

“But, isn’t he gay?” Blaine whispered.

“Yes,” Kurt giggled. “So is she, but they are both in the closet so…”

“Ahh,” Blaine nodded, understanding.

“But I knew she’d like my shirt, and that she’d help me put it front and center for this performance.”

“Right.” Blaine grinned. “Let me look at it again.” He pressed his flat hand to Kurt’s chest briefly, as though he needed him to back up in order to get a proper look at the large black letters there.

Kurt grabbed the lower edge of his shirt and held it out as he leaned back, making the bold LIKES BOYS as visible as it could possibly be.

“Hmmmm,” Blaine teased. “I’m not sure how I feel about that shirt.”

Kurt’s brow furrowed dangerously.

“I’d like it more if you took off that ‘s’ and added an ‘a’ over here,” he pointed.

Kurt’s head dropped to his chest as he shook with laughter. “Likes a boy? You want it to say likes a boy?”

“Well, I am mostly only interested in you liking one boy…”

Kurt glanced at the stage, saw that everyone appeared to be occupied, and then leaned over the armrest into Blaine’s space. “I am only interested in liking one boy,” he whispered in his ear.

“Hey Kurt, come back up here,” someone called.

Blaine smiled sadly at Kurt as he hopped up and ran back to the stage. _I am only interested in liking one boy ._ If only that could include some tense other than the present.

* * * * *

When Kurt asked him to go to prom, Blaine was terrified. His last school dance had gone so badly, and while he knew that facing a fear can help with overcoming it, he still didn’t want to do it right now. But Kurt was so supportive, immediately offering to blow off prom if Blaine didn’t want to go (even though it was obvious that Kurt did), and Blaine realized he would do anything for this boy, including attending a school dance.

When Kurt showed off his kilt, Blaine swallowed down his worries again. He reminded himself of how brightly Kurt shone when he could be himself, and of how he had promised himself that he would not try again to make Kurt blend in with the crowd.

When they walked into the school gym--side by side but not hand in hand--Blaine took a deep breath and assured himself that tonight would be fine. Kurt did look amazing, and Blaine was proud to be there with him. Kurt had a good circle of supportive friends there, and they enjoyed dancing and talking with the group. Blaine even joined some of the New Directions in performing one of the songs, and had a ball doing it. It looked like prom was going to be ok after all.

The next thing he knew he was running after Kurt into the hallway.

“Kurt, stop. Kurt, please, just stop!” Blaine’s mind was racing as he tried to come up with the right words to say. “It’s just a stupid joke.”

“No it’s not. All that hate--they’re just afraid to say it out loud, so they did it by secret ballot.” Kurt paced back and forth, his chest heaving and shoulders shaking. Blaine slid down the lockers and sat quietly, wishing he knew what to say. He thought back to the day when Kurt had blithely asked him to come to prom, and then immediately offered him an out when he realized how uncomfortable Blaine was. Suddenly he knew what to say.

“Do you want to go? We don’t have to go back in there.”

Kurt turned and looked at him. “Wasn’t this prom supposed to be about redemption? About taking away that lump you had in your throat? If we leave all it’s going to do is give me a lump too.”

Blaine felt the smile rising up inside himself, but he didn’t let it show on his face just yet. This was the Kurt he had fallen for. “So what do you want to do?”

Kurt took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he held Blaine’s gaze. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this scared of something, but I do know that I’m going to remember this night forever, and I want it to be a memory I can be proud of. So I’m going to take that leap and go back in there and get coronated. I’m going to show them that they can’t touch me.” He dropped to his knees beside Blaine, his voice dropping to a whisper. “That they can’t touch us, or what we have.”

He fell into Blaine’s arms, and Blaine pulled him close, kissing Kurt’s temple, and being careful not to muss his hair as he tried to keep the tears from his own eyes. “I’m with you no matter what, Kurt,” he murmured. “I would go up on that stage with you if I could.”

“I know.”

They held each other for a few moments before Kurt sat back onto his heels, accepting the handkerchief that Blaine handed him. “We’d better go or it’s going to be too late…” Blaine rose and extended his hand to Kurt. “You ready for this?”

“Yes,” Kurt breathed, taking his hand and standing beside him. “Yes. Let’s go.” He forced a tight smile, and they returned to the gym, this time hand-in hand.

Five minutes later Blaine watched Karofsky run from the dance floor, and he found himself stepping into the spotlight as he extended his hand to Kurt again.

“Excuse me, may I have this dance?”

Kurt turned, relief clearly flooding over him as he took Blaine’s hand and moved in close to him. “Yes,” he breathed again. “Yes, you may.”

Kurt was looking around the room at everyone watching them, but Blaine only looked at Kurt. Kurt, who was brave enough to take a leap even with everyone laughing. Kurt, who leaped not because he was hoping for a particular result, but because he knew what it would mean to himself if he didn’t.

 _Maybe taking a risk on something--or someone--isn’t about what happens later,_ Blaine realized. _Maybe it’s about choosing something worthwhile simply because it is worthwhile._

* * * * *

The days that Kurt was gone to New York City might have been torture, but Blaine did everything in his power to keep himself busy and distracted.

Which is to say that for seventeen and a half hours Blaine went bowling and talked to his friends and studied for finals, and then for three days he randomly browsed apartment listings in New York City, requested information from four NYC colleges (even though he was still a sophomore), looked at his phone nine times an hour to see if Kurt had texted and he’d somehow missed the sound, and wished it were already Monday so that Kurt would be home.

 _We didn’t win._ The text came late on Saturday afternoon.

 _I’m so sorry._ Blaine tapped back hurriedly.

Apparently I’m not meant to win competitions this year. Blaine could tell that Kurt was headed for wallowing, so he tried to distract him.

_Lima Bean, Monday at 3?_

_Yes_

_Thank you Blaine. For knowing what I needed_

Blaine smiled that sad smile again.

_I miss you_

_I miss you too_

_Sorry I can’t call. My dad would murder me for the roaming charges_

_I know_

_I’d really like to hear your voice right now_

_I always like to hear your voice, Kurt_

_Awwwwwww_

_:D_

_Monday then_

_Monday_

* * * * *

They were sitting across from each other at a tiny _Lima Bean_ table when it just spilled out, even though Blaine wasn’t really thinking about it. Well, yes, obviously he was thinking about it, but he wasn’t thinking about _saying_ it. But Kurt was talking about how amazing New York City had been, and Blaine was only halfway listening because his mind was just full of how amazing Kurt was, and there it was.

“I love you.”

Kurt set down his coffee cup, and carefully reached across the table to take Blaine’s hand. As he did so his sleeve pulled up his arm a little and exposed his wrist. He slowly rolled his arm over, revealing the flowing script.

_Blaine Anderson_

“I love you too,” Kurt murmured, looking up through his lashes to meet Blaine’s gaze.

“How long have you known?” Blaine asked, wide-eyed. He remembered having seen Kurt’s mark clear back in November, and suddenly a thousand little moments came into focus in a different light from before.

“A while.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him expectantly and waited.

“I got my mark almost two years ago,” Kurt said softly. “Long before I met you.”

“I, Kurt, why didn’t you ever say something? We could have…” Blaine’s mind was racing and his tongue was not keeping up. “Wait, you knew the day we met?”

Kurt nodded slowly. “From the moment I learned your full name, yes. There was a moment for me too, when I said oh, there you are, I’ve been looking for you…” He smiled so widely his eyes almost shut.

“Kurt, I didn’t know. I mean I told you I don’t have mine yet, and--”

“I already knew before you told me,” Kurt whispered. “I sort of saw your wrist the night you slept in my bed.”

Blaine choked. He had forgotten about that night. And that morning?! And...oh Blaine was going to have to go back over hundreds of memories from the last seven months and reevaluate everything he thought he knew about what had happened.

“I thought about telling you so many times,” Kurt admitted. “But I never wanted to pressure you. I still always wanted you to have a choice.”

“I choose you, Kurt,” Blaine told him earnestly.

“I know,” Kurt smiled. “That’s why I showed you. You don’t have to--”

“Even though I don’t have mine yet, that doesn’t matter now, does it? I mean, marks almost always come in pairs, right?”

“That’s what they say,” Kurt agreed, squeezing his hand tightly. “But if somehow it doesn’t, I mean, I won’t make you--”

“Kurt, I love you,” Blaine said again.

“I love you too,” Kurt’s eyes crinkled at the corners and he squeezed Blaine’s hand. “Which is why I wouldn’t--”

“I chose you, Kurt. Soulmate marks are a guide, but they’re not an obligation. I don’t care what mine says when it comes, I will still choose you.”

Kurt inhaled sharply. “Blaine, you can’t know that. Don’t commit to something that could all change. I--”

“Kurt!” Blaine interrupted him. “Look, I need to tell you something. Months ago, at sectionals actually, I saw that you had a mark.”

Kurt’s eyebrow shot up and he tilted his head to the side.

“It was from across the room, I couldn’t read it or anything, I just saw that you had one.”

“Oh,” Kurt’s voice was soft as understanding dawned.

“I didn’t want to get in the way of you meeting your soulmate, and I tried so hard for so long to keep my distance…”

“Oh,” Kurt breathed again, the pieces falling into place in his head. “I didn’t want to push you, and you thought I wouldn’t be interested…” He put his face in his hands. “Wow, we were idiots.”

“Here’s the thing,” Blaine went on. “I tried so hard to not fall in love with you, but you were just, you were so _you_ , and you were irresistible.”

Kurt’s head snapped up and he peered at Blaine carefully.

“When I decided to take a chance with you, it was with the assumption that you would drop me like a brick when your real soulmate showed up. I tortured myself over that for weeks, honestly. But ultimately I decided that a little time with you was better than no time with you, and that it was worth the risk, even if you broke my heart next year.” He took Kurt’s other hand into his own and squeezed them both as he gazed intently into his boyfriend’s eyes. “Even if you broke my heart next week.”

“Oh,” Kurt looked like he was having trouble breathing.

“And now that I know that you’re not going to leave me for someone else, Kurt, I’ve never been this happy in my life. And I swear to you that I don’t care what my mark says when it comes. I chose you two months ago, and I choose you today, and I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh,” Kurt repeated. “I, Blaine, I--”

Blaine gently rubbed his thumb back and forth over Kurt’s wrist, staring at the writing there before lifting it up to gently kiss it. “I think that’s almost the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he murmured. He glanced back up at Kurt’s face, wide-eyed and pink-cheeked. “Second only to you.”

* * * * *

When his wrist started itching later that summer, Blaine knew what it meant. The dark streaks that appeared next took a few days to fill in enough that he could begin to read his mark, but Blaine hardly glanced at them during the wait. He didn’t need to. He was sure what the mark would say, and even if it didn’t, he didn’t care. It didn’t matter anymore. He had made his choice already.

If the mark said something else, he would get a tattoo over it, or wear a cuff...the internet said that it was even possible to get laser mark removal done. He could do a lot of things to do away with a silly mark if he needed to.

It took almost a week before the lettering was fully filled in, and once that happened Blaine’s feelings about marks shifted overnight. Suddenly, he couldn’t stop looking at the delicate flowing letters that spelled out

_Kurt Hummel_

Because the mark wasn’t silly at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honest truth here: I seriously thought about having Blaine’s mark say someone else’s name. (Probably an OC.) I thought about having Blaine go through some process of covering or removing it. But I think his conversation with Kurt was enough. He WOULD have done all those things if his mark had said anyone else...but it didn’t. After all, they really were soulmates.


End file.
